CEO Library

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to fund contractors Westat Insight (formerly Insight Policy Research) and Urban Institute to conduct the Study of Occupations and Skills Related to Occupations in Construction under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis and Apprenticeship Evidence-Building portfolios of studies.

The report provides a snapshot of how Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) grantees adapted or expanded strategies to serve older workers in response to challenges faced during the pandemic. Strategies include (1) adopting new recruitment outreach, intake, and engagement activities; (2) promoting digital access and technology loaner programs; (3) providing training remotely; (4) adopting new host agency and employer strategies; and (5) implementing staffing strategies to support SCSEP participants’ needs.

The purpose of the Older Workers Implementation and Descriptive Study is to build evidence about the implementation of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and other U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) workforce programs serving older workers to inform the continuous improvement of SCSEP. To inform evaluation activities, the report reviews the literature and identifies the state of the evidence on workforce programs, including those that serve older workers and populations with similar employment barriers.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Women’s Bureau (WB) to fund contractor Mathematica, and its partner Social Policy Research Associates, to conduct the Fostering Access, Rights, and Equity (FARE) Grant Navigators Implementation Study under the Navigator Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies.

In 2017 the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO), in close collaboration with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), contracted Mathematica to evaluate the effect of the Increasing Economic and Social Empowerment for Adolescent Girls and Vulnerable Women Project, (EMPOWER). EMPOWER aimed to reduce child labor in Eastern Province, Zambia by addressing skills gaps that constrain adolescent girls’ and women’s work and livelihood opportunities and facilitating pathways to employment that aligned with participants’ improved skills.

The report features findings from an evaluation of EMPOWER that used quantitative pre-post and descriptive analyses to measure changes in the outcomes for adolescent girls and women and qualitative analysis to contextualize findings. The evaluation’s primary objectives were to determine whether EMPOWER increased participants’ skill levels and, in turn, increased adolescent girls’ access to acceptable work and adolescent girls’ and women’s involvement in self-employment and paid work.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Wage and Hour Division to fund contractor Westat to conduct the National Worker Survey project. This survey is intended to gather data to understand the prevalence and nature of violations of workers’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), with a focus on wages, pay, and hours worked, as well as other topics.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Women’s Bureau, the Office of Unemployment Insurance, and the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance to fund contractor Mathematica, and its partner Social Policy Research Associates, to conduct a series of studies as part of the Navigator Evidence-Building Portfolio p

In 2021, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment Training Administration (ETA) and funded the Urban Institute and its partner Capital Research Corporation to conduct the Older Workers Study.

In 2020, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Mathematica Policy Research to conduct the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Research Portfolio Project.

In 2020, Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Apprenticeship (OA) and the Office of Policy Development and Research (OPDR) within the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractors Urban Institute and Mathematica to conduct the State Apprenticeship Capacity Assessment under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Women’s Bureau and funded contractor Urban Institute to conduct the Descriptive Study of the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Grants under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies. The descriptive study aimed to understand how WANTO grantees provided technical assistance, supportive services, and training opportunities to help women access nontraditional jobs.

The report is a high-level review of the literature on strategies that increase opportunities for employment in Non-Traditional Occupations (NTOs) – defined by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) as occupations where specific populations and subpopulations are traditionally under-represented among the industry’s workforce. The specific focus of this review is to address an individual’s barriers to entering NTOs with strategies appropriate for delivery within the public workforce system.

In June 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) contracted the implementation of the Feasibility Study and Evaluation of Non‐Traditional Occupation (NTO) Demonstrations. NTOs are occupations where specific populations and subpopulations are traditionally underrepresented. DOL defines underrepresented occupations as those in which individuals from one gender or minority group constitute less than 25% of the individuals employed in such occupations.

In June 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) contracted the implementation of the “Feasibility Study and Evaluation of the Non-Traditional Occupation (NTO) Demonstration.” NTOs for women generally offer higher wages and more opportunities for advancement compared to traditionally female dominated occupations.

In 2016, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Women’s Bureau (WB) and funded contractor Nexight Group to conduct the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau Strategic Community Outreach Study. The program review aims to conceptualize a strategic community engagement model and provide options for a standardized performance data management approach for community outreach efforts.

The report presents a high-level look at the community engagement (CE) project approach and analysis, and presents options that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Women’s Bureau (WB) may consider for future exploration. It is important to note that this project was not conducted as a rigorous assessment of the impact of the WB’s work overall or the work resulting from its CE approach. Rather, the focus was on understanding the CE activities the WB conducts at the regional level and developing potential options the WB could consider to strengthen its approach in the future.

In 2017, the DOL’s Chief Evaluation Office (CEO), in collaboration with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), funded contractor Mathematica to conduct an implementation and impact evaluation of the America’s Promise grant program. The implementation study examines how the 23 grantee organizations implemented their programs between 2016 and 2020.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) enables employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. However, while FMLA has increased leave-taking among eligible workers, overall effects have been modest, perhaps because much of the workforce is ineligible for FMLA, and many who are eligible are unaware of the law’s benefits and eligibility requirements.

The participation rate of mothers in the labor force has increased significantly over the last four decades with an estimated 71% participating in 2014 compared to 47% in 1975. Similarly, the share of households with mothers of children under the age of 18 as the sole or primary income earner has grown substantially, increasing from 11% in 1960 to 40% in 2011.

Welcoming a new child commonly requires working parents to face challenging decisions related to balancing their career obligations with the extensive caregiving responsibilities of a new child. The brief explores the association between paid leave use and the employment stability of a specific group of parents, first-time mothers, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation’s (SIPP) Fertility History Module.

The paper studies the effects of the prevalence and high returns to working long hours on female labor market outcomes, particularly for highly educated women. The researchers' empirical strategy uses cross-country data from 18 developed countries and exploits time-series and cross-industry variation. The results suggest that an increase in the prevalence of overwork in an industry (defined as working 50+ hours a week) reduces the share of married educated women aged 23 to 42 working in that industry, even after controlling for the industry distribution of single women of the same age.

The report profiles the demographic and employment characteristics of women veterans and compares these characteristics to those of male veterans, women non-veterans, and male non-veterans.

The minimum wage is one of the most researched areas in labor economics with a vast body of literature that dates back nearly seventy years (Brown 1999). Research proliferated as variation in state minimum wage policies gained steam over the last several decades. However, research, debate and policy has largely ignored the lesser known subminimum wage received by tipped workers (also referred to as the tipped or cash wage). That there are two federal wage floors is unknown to many and the existence of the federal subminimum wage—at $2.13 since 1991—often comes as a bit of a surprise.

The paper describes the New Mexico Pay Equity Initiative, which was instituted by Governor Bill Richardson’s administration over a two year period (2009-2011). The Initiative built on recommendations from an Equal Pay Task Force created by the New Mexico State legislature in 2003, and a subsequent task force created by the governor in 2008.