Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) Demonstration Delivery, Take-Up, and Outcomes of In-Work Training Support for Lone Parents

117 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2011

See all articles by Richard Hendra

Richard Hendra

MDRC

Kathryn Ray

Policy Studies Institute (PSI)

Sandra Vegeris

Policy Studies Institute (PSI)

Debra Hevenstone

University of Bern

Maria Hudson

Policy Studies Institute (PSI)

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

This report presents new findings from Britain’s Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration programme, launched in autumn 2003. ERA was designed to test the effectiveness of a programme to improve the labour market prospects of low-paid workers and long-term unemployed people. One of ERA’s key goals was to encourage human capital development by supporting and incentivising training among low-wage workers. The programme provided personal adviser support and financial incentives for completing training and working full-time.

This report looks at the delivery, take-up, and outcomes of ERA’s training support and incentives. A central question is whether intensive adviser support and financial incentives encourage training beyond what would normally occur. Because training encompasses a broad range of activities, this report details the kinds of training courses people took in ERA. Finally, it is important to assess whether training leads to better labour market outcomes. Some programmes have increased training with no corresponding effect on earnings. One hypothesis to explain these results is that the training might not have been in courses relevant to advancement. Therefore, this study examines the occupational relevance of the courses taken.

Keywords: Job training, employment retention and advancement, welfare to work, mixed methods, random assignment evaluation

JEL Classification: I38, J62, J60, P46, I00

Suggested Citation

Hendra, Richard and Ray, Kathryn and Vegeris, Sandra and Hevenstone, Debra and Hudson, Maria, Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) Demonstration Delivery, Take-Up, and Outcomes of In-Work Training Support for Lone Parents (2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1824082 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1824082

Richard Hendra (Contact Author)

MDRC ( email )

200 Vesey Street
New York, NY 10281
United States

Kathryn Ray

Policy Studies Institute (PSI) ( email )

50 Hanson Street
London, W1W 6UP
United Kingdom

Sandra Vegeris

Policy Studies Institute (PSI) ( email )

London NW1 3SR
United Kingdom

Debra Hevenstone

University of Bern ( email )

Gesellschaftsstrasse 49
Bern, BERN 3001
Switzerland

Maria Hudson

Policy Studies Institute (PSI) ( email )

London NW1 3SR
United Kingdom

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