About the Study
In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Mathematica Policy Research to conduct the National Job Corps Study: 20-Year Follow-Up Study Using Tax Data. This administrative data analysis aims to assess the long-term employment and earnings outcomes for Job Corps participants in the 1990s using tax data through 2015. The sample is from the original National Job Corps Study where random assignment intake was conducted between 1994 and early 1996 to a program and control group.
Administered by the ETA, Job Corps is the nation’s largest residential education and job training program for at-risk youth. The program reaches an estimated 60,000 participants each year at numerous locations across the country.
This Department of Labor-funded study was a result of the annual process to determine the Department’s research priorities for the upcoming year. It contributes to the labor evidence-base to inform employment and training programs and policies and addresses Departmental strategic goals and priorities.
- National Job Corps Study: 20-Year Follow-Up Study Using Tax Data (Final Report, February 2019)
- Appendices A and B (Report Appendices, February 2019)
- Twenty years after random assignment, what were the impacts of Job Corps on participants’ annual employment and earnings overall and by age group?
- What were impacts on types of employment (hourly wage and salaried employment, contractor employment, and self-employment); the receipt of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits; and spouse employment? Did the program have an effect on tax filings, liabilities, and balances due?
- In general, the 20-year results mimic the results from the original nine-year National Job Corps Study.
- Program participants in the older age group (20–24 years old) continued to experience greater employment and lower SSDI filings than the older control group 20 years after random assignment. These findings align with results of the earlier impact study and demonstrate that positive impacts persisted but did not grow over time.
- On average, program participants in the older age group (20–24 years old) earned more than the members of the older control group. Although these results are not statistically significant, this may be due to statistical limitations, including a small sample size and large standard deviation of earnings.
- Participants in the older age group (20–24 years old) experienced employment gains of about 4.2 percentage points between 2013 and 2015 as compared to the older control group. In addition, older participants had a 10% higher tax filing rate and a 40% lower rate of SSDI benefit receipt.
- Program participants in the younger age group (16–19 years old) did not experience a long-term impact on employment or earnings relative to the younger control group between ten and 20 years after random assignment. Again, this finding is consistent with the earlier impact study demonstrating no lasting economic benefit of program participation for this age group.
Final Report
Schochet, P. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. National Job Corps Study: 20-Year Follow-Up Study Using Tax Data: Final Report. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Appendices
Schochet, P. (2018). Mathematica Policy Research. National Job Corps Study: 20-Year Follow-Up Study Using Tax Data: Appendices A and B. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy. CEO’s research development process includes extensive technical review at the design, data collection and analysis stage, including: external contractor review and OMB review and approval of data collection methods and instruments per the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Institutional Review Board (IRB) review to ensure studies adhere to the highest ethical standards, review by academic peers (e.g., Technical Working Groups), and inputs from relevant DOL agency and program officials and CEO technical staff. Final reports undergo an additional independent expert technical review and a review for Section 508 compliance prior to publication. The resulting reports represent findings from this independent research and do not represent DOL positions or policies.