Better Off Working? Work, Poverty And Benefit Cycling

A study of the work experiences of a group of low-skilled workers over five years. Concern has been growing about the extent to which paid work is an effective route out of poverty and the extent of churning between work and benefits that can result in recurrent poverty. Using both interview and survey data, this report examines work pathways, experiences of retention and progression, and feelings of financial strain among a group of lone parents and former long-term unemployed people who have entered work. The report covers: • people’s perceptions of poverty and financial strain and how this relates to their movements in and out of work; • people’s trajectories in work and the factors facilitating or constraining work retention; • the relationship between work trajectories and moving into ‘better work’; • what enables or constrains people in their attempts to progress in work; and • tensions and trade-offs between retention and progression

Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration: delivery, take-up, and outcomes of in-work training support for lone parents (Research report No 727)

"This report focuses on the delivery, take-up and outcomes of the in-work training support provided through the Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration... The ERA demonstration was designed to test the effectiveness of a programme to improve the labour market prospects of low-paid workers and long-term unemployed people." - page 4

New Zealand Working For Families programme: Methodological considerations for evaluating MSD programmes

The methodological review is the second part of the evaluation research commissioned by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) in 2005 to help in the preparation of the evaluation of the Working for Families (WFF) programme. This review enumerates the key evaluation questions identified by MSD as central to their policy concerns and considers how the features of WFF could affect evaluation. It details the methodological and data requirements that must be addressed in order to meet the four key evaluation objectives, namely: (1) tracking and evaluating the implementation and delivery of WFF (2) identifying changes in entitlement take-up and reasons for it (3) establishing the impact of WFF on employment-related outcomes (4) assessing WFF’s effect on net income and quality of life more generally. The methodological review complements the literature review by reviewing evaluations from around the world that are pertinent to WFF. An overview of evaluation methods is provided, concentrating on particular issues that arise within the WFF context. Section 2 focuses on implementation and delivery. Section 3 covers the issues related to take-up and entitlement and their evaluation. Section 4 discusses the evaluation methodologies that can be used in evaluating programmes such as WFF and introduces the data requirements they entail. Making work pay is the focus of section 5. Finally, section 6 examines hardship and poverty, living standards and wellbeing.

Independent living in later life

This report brings together findings from qualitative research undertaken by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) during 2003/04 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This explored factors influencing perceptions and experiences of independent living in later life and analysed pensioners’ service needs and accessing behaviour, in turn considering the relationship between independence and service use. These issues are timely given the projected rise in the proportion of the UK’s population which is over State Pension age in the near future. The research was also designed to provide refinement of the DWP’s Customer Segmentation Model for Today’s Pensioners, a tool depicting a sliding scale of support needs, differentiating pensioners into seven subsegments on the basis of key demographic criteria

The lone parents pilots: a qualitative evaluation of quarterly work focused interviews (12+), work search premium and in work credit

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Families and children 2001 Living standards and the children

Includes bibliographical referencesSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:7761. 4795(no 190) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo