The In-Work Credit provides financial incentives for a period of time to encourage lone parent welfare recipients to enter work. In an evaluation for the Department for Work and Pensions, IFS researchers found that the programme made lone parents less likely to claim benefits and more likely to be in work.

Findings from this research have been presented at the government and at several academic conferences. The project contributed to methodological improvements in the evaluation of policies to encourage people to enter employment. It also added to policy makers’ knowledge and to the debate on encouraging work and work-retention.