How Do Holistic Wrap-Around Anti-Poverty Programs Affect Employment and Individualized Outcomes?
A new wave of social service programs aims to build a pathway out of poverty by helping clients define their own goals and then supporting them flexibly and intensively over multiple years to meet those goals. We conduct a randomized controlled trial of one such program. Participants randomly assigned to intensive, holistic, wrap-around services have 10 percentage points higher employment rates after one year compared with a control group offered only help with an immediate need. Most of this effect appears to persist after programming ends. However, we find limited evidence that intensive, holistic services affect areas beyond employment, even when other areas of life are participants’ primary goals. We find some evidence that the program works by increasing hopefulness and agency among participants, which may be more useful in supporting labor force participation than in meeting other goals.
-
-
Copy CitationJavier Espinosa, William N. Evans, David C. Phillips, and Tim Spilde, "How Do Holistic Wrap-Around Anti-Poverty Programs Affect Employment and Individualized Outcomes?," NBER Working Paper 32911 (2024), https://doi.org/10.3386/w32911.Download Citation
-
Published Versions
Espinosa, Javier & Evans, William N. & Phillips, David C. & Spilde, Timothy, 2026. "How do holistic wrap-around anti-poverty programs affect employment and individualized outcomes?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 257(C), DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2026.105617. citation courtesy of 
Javier Espinosa & William N. Evans & David C. Phillips & Timothy Spilde, 2026. "How do holistic wrap-around anti-poverty programs affect employment and individualized outcomes?," Journal of Public Economics, vol 257.
More from the NBER
In addition to working papers, the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter, the NBER Digest, the Bulletin on Health, and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship — as well as online conference reports, video lectures, and interviews.
