Human well-being and in-work benefits: A randomized controlled trial

Richard Dorsett and Andrew J. Oswald
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Andrew J. Oswald: University of Warwick

CAGE Online Working Paper Series from Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE)

Abstract: Many politicians believe they can intervene in the economy to improve people’s lives. But can they? In a social experiment carried out in the United Kingdom, extensive in-work support was randomly assigned among 16,000 disadvantaged people. We follow a sub-sample of 3,500 single parents for 5 ensuing years. The results reveal a remarkable, and troubling, finding. Long after eligibility had ceased, the treated individuals had substantially lower psychological well-being, worried more about money, and were increasingly prone to debt. Thus helping people apparently hurt them. We discuss a behavioral framework consistent with our findings and reflect on implications for policy.

Keywords: Well-Being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hap, nep-hrm and nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/resear ... /182-2014_oswald.pdf

Related works:
Working Paper: HUMAN WELL-BEING AND IN-WORK BENEFITS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (2014)
Working Paper: Human Well-being and In-Work Benefits: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2014)
Working Paper: Human well-being and in-work benefits: a randomized controlled trial (2014)
Working Paper: HUMAN WELL-BEING AND IN-WORK BENEFITS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cge:wacage:182

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