Predictors of employment and earnings among JOBS participants

During the past two decades there has been considerable interest in assessing the effectiveness with which welfare-to-work programs foster increased earnings from employment, yet little attention has focused on the extent to which personal, attitudinal, psychosocial, and human capital characteristics developed before program participation are associated with postprogram outcomes. This article assesses these characteristics as predictors of postprogram earnings for a sample of 664 participants in North Carolina's Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program over a 12-month period following their exit from JOBS. Results suggest that the personal and social characteristics participants bring with them to the JOBS program can predict postprogram earnings outcomes.