New Hopes Effects on Children's Future Orientation and Employment Experiences. MDRC Working Paper

摘要

This report focuses on New Hopes impacts on childrens future orientation (i.e., attitudes and expectancies about work, involvement in employment and career preparation activities) and employment experiences (e.g., duration and intensity of employment) eight years after random assignment. Interest in these outcomes is partly an outgrowth of New Hopes earlier effects on child functioning. Two and five years after random assignment years, when children were ages 313, and ages 616, respectively, New Hope had positive effects on childrens academic achievement, motivation, social behavior, and occupational and educational expectations and aspirations, primarily for boys. Evidence about whether children set on a favorable trajectory in earlier life as a result of New Hope continued that trajectory during adolescence in terms of their future orientation and attachment to the labor market affords a broader perspective within which to consider the policy implications of New Hope. Prior non-experimental research indicates that among low-income youth, a more optimistic future orientation and greater labor market attachment forecast greater educational attainment and better employment outcomes during adulthood. Hence, evidence that New Hope had positive impacts on adolescents future orientation and employment experiences may signal the programs potential for breaking the cycle of poverty and facilitating intergenerational mobility through employment. Employment and benefits linked to employment (e.g., Earned Income Tax Credits) are important, though not guaranteed, routes out of poverty.