What Does It Really Cost to Help Someone Get to Work?
As work requirements expand and budgets tighten, organizations need to understand not just what employment and training programs cost, but what they deliver. This means looking at cost per participant, the program components driving those costs, and how spending compares with participants’ future earnings gains.
Abt has studied employment and training programs for more than 30 years, and we measure what they cost alongside what they achieve. For example, in our seven-year evaluation of Year Up for the Administration for Children and Families, participants earned $8,251 more in the seventh year — 30 percent above the control group — and society received $2.46 in net benefits for every dollar spent. Findings like these rest on a disciplined cost analysis.
Join us in New Orleans to learn how to apply this approach to your own program.
Meet the Presenter
Our Session
Assessing Costs of Employment and Training Programs: An Interactive Workshop
Tuesday, August 25th | 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
A hands-on hour, not a lecture. Allan Porowski walks through how to scope and carry out a cost analysis of an employment and training program: which resources to count, how to price contributions that never show up on an invoice, how to separate start-up costs from ongoing operations, and how to report a cost per participant that holds up when a legislature asks. Bring a program you administer. You will leave with a method you can apply to it.
Explore our Projects and Resources
Evaluating Year Up’s Programs for Young Adults
Prospects for young adults without postsecondary credentials have steadily worsened in recent decades. With few chances at well-paying jobs, millions give up on school and withdraw from the labor force. Helping low-skilled young adults access training…
Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE)
The Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) study was designed to produce rigorous evidence for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers about the effectiveness of nine career pathways approaches that sought to increase credentials, employment, and self-sufficiency among low-income, low-skilled Americans.
Building Evidence on Employment Strategies (BEES)
Evaluated innovative employment programs to boost earnings and economic security for low-income Americans, including those with substance use disorders.
Job Search Assistance (JSA) Strategies Evaluation
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs typically provide job search assistance (JSA) in addition to their income-support role. JSA strategies can include group, one-on-one, or self-directed activities. While there is evidence JSA…
Workforce Development
Research, Monitoring & Evaluation
