Evaluating a time-limited in-work benefit for lone parents: did In Work Credit work?ISER External Seminars

Since April 2004, several government policies designed to help lone parents into work have been piloted in combinations in some
areas of Great Britain. The most significant of these was In-Work Credit
(IWC), which provided £40 a week for lone parents who left welfare and
moved into work, for up to the first 52 weeks of work. This paper
estimates the impact of the pilots on the benefit and work outcomes
of lone parents who were potentially eligible for IWC that is, lone parents in pilot districts who had been receiving Income Support (IS)
or Jobseeker Allowance (JSA) for at least 12 months before 31 March 2007. The analysis uses similar lone parents in Jobcentre Plus districts not operating the LPPs as a comparison group. It also examines the retention impact of IWC on its recipients. Estimates suggest that the pilots increased off-flow rates from welfare, but the impact on job retention was very small, perhaps because recipients would have had high levels of job retention anyway.

Presented by:

Mike Brewer (Institute for Fiscal Studies)

Date & time:

February 1, 2010 4:00 pm - February 1, 2010 5:30 pm


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