Employment

Employment that pays a livable wage and provides appropriate benefits and security is the long-term aim of self-sufficiency programs. Information in the Employment section of the SSRC includes a focus on job development, occupational training, career pathway approaches, sectoral employment focuses, transitional jobs, and subsidized employment designed to attach low-income workers to the labor force. Materials related to meeting the TANF Work Participation rate are cross-listed in Employment and TANF Policy.

View recommendations from the SSRC Librarian on Employment and relevant Federal laws and regulations below.

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Research on employment for low-income individuals often explores barriers to employment, labor force attachment, subsidized employment/transitional jobs programs, and unemployment insurance. Click the phrases below to view selected research and resources relevant to each topic and self-sufficiency.

Click the resources below to view the resource in the SSRC Library

SSRC selections: Youth employment and young men of color

This set of SSRC Selections focuses on youth employment and young men of color. Selections highlight research, evaluation reports, and other publications that inform the field about key issues in, and effective practices for, fostering economic self-sufficiency.

SSRC Notes: Implications of previous incarceration for self-sufficiency

This SSRC Note examines the implications that incarceration has on one’s labor market prospects and, by extension, one’s economic self-sufficiency.

SSRC Selections: Rapid attachment to employment

This set of SSRC Selections focuses on rapid attachment to employment.

Implications of state-wide job losses on child well-being

During the Webinar, Dr. Gassman-Pines discussed the effects of job loss on a child’s academic achievement, mental health, and risk-taking behaviors.

An introduction to the community-based healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood workforce strategy

This Webinar described a framework for understanding and delivering comprehensive workforce and job development services to low skilled, high need individuals.

Making unemployment insurance work better for low-income working families

This Webinar addressed the factors that influence low-income families' access to unemployment insurance, including monetary eligibility, non-monetary eligibility, and differential take-up. It was designed as a cross-disciplinary discussion, presenting two recent papers and then hearing from the National Employment Law Project about how state policies impact access to unemployment insurance benefits for low-wage workers.

SSRC Notes: The post-recession workforce landscape

The Great Recession was the most significant economic downturn since the Great Depression. Spanning from 2007 to 2009, the recession left millions of people unemployed, asset-poor, and in need of supportive services. Recently, scholars have analyzed the recession’s effects on everything from child development to the NBA’s renegotiation of its collective bargaining agreement. The breadth of recession-related research alone speaks to its enormous impact, the repercussions of which continue to reverberate nearly a decade later.

SSRC Selections: Barriers to employment

This set of selections focuses on barriers to employment.

SSRC Selections: Parental education and employment

This set of selections focuses on parental education and employment.

SSRC Selections: Disabilities & employment

This set of SSRC Selections focuses on disabilities and employment.

Using administrative data: Quantitative and qualitative insights for workforce development programs

This Webinar described recent research efforts in Chicago, highlighting how cross-system, longitudinal, and matched administrative data provided key information to support data-informed decision-making among local stakeholders.

What happens when job loss strikes in low-income families?

Dr. Shaefer provided an overview of the transformation of the safety net for low-income families into a system that subsidizes low-wage work, while providing less aid to the non-working poor. Dr. Shaefer also discussed the implications of unemployment spells for low-income families with children and presented information on the relative responsiveness of three major means-tested safety net programs – TANF, SNAP, and EITC – and discussed broader implications and policy recommendations.

A pair of glasses resting on an open book

Federal laws and regulations establish a framework which guides the design and administration of employment programs for low-income individuals. Click the first link below to view legislative and regulatory resources specific to employment programs. Click the second link to browse additional self-sufficiency legislation and policy in the SSRC library.

View legislative resources on Employment

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014

Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010

Claims Resettlement Act of 2010

Small Business Jobs Act of 2010

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

Family Support Act of 1988

View regulatory resources on Employment