An Econometric Evaluation of the Effectiveness of In‐Work Support for Earnings Progression

Bibliographic Data

ID21512764
AuthorsCyriac Kodath (School of Economics University of Sheffield Sheffield UK), Angelo Valerio (Department for Work & Pensions, Caxton House London UK), Bert Van Landeghem (0000-0001-6759-8893, School of Economics University of Sheffield Sheffield UK), Peter W Wright (School of Economics University of Sheffield Sheffield UK), Peter Wright (0000-0001-5424-2521, University of Sheffield, corresponding author)
Year2026
Publication date2026-02-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-9049 • E-ISSN: 1468-0084
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/obes.70046
OpenAlexW7128769929
LanguageEN
References cited22

In many countries, jobseekers who receive unemployment insurance must commit to an action plan to support their return to work and are monitored and coached to ensure compliance. In some countries means‐tested benefit claimants who are in regular but low income employment are also subject to monitoring and coaching (M&C), in order that they can progress into jobs with a higher level of income. In this paper we study the impact of M&C on in‐work claimants in the United Kingdom using a difference‐in‐differences design. Drawing on data from a randomised controlled trial of Universal Credit claimants, we find that M&C leads to increased earnings over time. The results do however show considerable heterogeneity by gender, age and across the earnings distribution

Coaching · Commit · Earnings · Income Support · Unemployment · Advanced Causal Inference Techniques · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality

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