Publications on Public Service/Subsidized Employment Programs

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the economic stimulus package passed in February, provides significant resources for developing environment-friendly “green jobs.” The act includes $48 billion overall for job training and education, nearly $100 billion for transportation and infrastructure, $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy, and more than $41 billion for energy-related programs. But it is unclear how green investments will benefit the country’s most vulnerable individuals: low-wage workers with limited skills.

The increasing recognition of the importance of marriage for the social and economic well-being of children has led to demonstrations aimed at strengthening and stimulating healthy marriages. The next step is to ensure that factors closely linked with healthy marriages are addressed as well. This paper brings together research findings and policy ideas about the interactions between marriage, employment, and family functioning. It presents a framework and proposes several demonstrations aimed at improving employment and family outcomes for disadvantaged populations. The appendix reviews an extensive body of research on specific linkages between marriage, employment, and family functioning.

Building on our March forum, which analyzed how tax policy affects low-income working families, in April we turn to two supports designed to help parents stay in the workforce: child care subsidies and paid family leave.

The President's High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGTJI) is a major national effort to encourage the development of market-driven strategies to address critical workforce challenges as defined by business and industry. As part of the Urban Institute's evaluation of this program, this first report documents the lessons, experiences and sustainability of 20 of the earliest HGJTI grantees as told by the project administrators. The purpose of the report is to summarize the major implementation lessons emerging from the early grantees and document the extent to which projects continue after the end of the grant.

This report presents ethnographic case studies of eight young, unmarried, low-income fathers who participated in the Partners for Fragile Families (PFF) demonstration projects. PFF provided a range of services aimed at increasing the capacity of young, economically disadvantaged fathers to become financial and emotional supports to their children and sought to reduce poverty and welfare dependence. The study examines the nature of the fathers relationship with their children and the mother of their children, the fathers experiences with the PFF program and with matters related to child support, their views on employment prospects and experiences, and their hopes and aspirations for the future.