The Cost-Effectiveness of Welfare-to-Work Programs: A Meta-Analysis

This article uses the tools of meta-analysis to assess cost-benefit studies of 50 mandatory welfare-to-work programs that were targeted at Aid for Families with Dependent Children recipients and evaluated by random assignment. The findings suggest that the costs of a typical evaluated welfare-to-work program probably exceeded its benefits from the perspective of the government, but those assigned to the program, and possibly society as a whole, may reap small positive net benefits. However, there are individual programs that are very costbeneficial. Further analyses of the determinants of the cost-benefits of welfareto-work programs to government and society as a whole show that some services are cost-neutral, but others entail net costs, which are sometimes substantial. The findings suggest that less successful programs might be made more cost-beneficial by dropping vocational training and basic education as program components, leaving mainly lower cost components, such as mandated job search and sanctions, but also possibly the more costly financial incentives.