Evaluating the employment impact of a mandatory job search assistance program

This paper is an evaluation of the British labor market program the "New Deal for the Young Unemployed" using administrative panel data on individuals between 1982 and 1999. This mandatory program involves extensive job assistance followed by various other options, including wage subsidies. We exploit the differential timing of the introduction of the program across regions as well as age-related eligibility rules to identify the program effect. Estimates of the employment effects of the mandatory job search assistance part of the program are presented using a variety of estimation techniques exploring combined "difference in differences" and matching procedures. Our key finding is that unemployed men are now 20% more likely to gain jobs than prior to the New Deal.