The Long-Run Effects of Unemployment Monitoring and Work-Search Programs: Experimental Evidence from the United Kingdom

This article examines the long-run effects of the Restart unemployment program in the United Kingdom. The program, aimed at the long-term unemployed, involved a combination of tighter monitoring of benefit eligibility rules and increased job search assistance. We compare the employment behavior of a treatment group who participated in the scheme with that of a randomly chosen control group for whom participation was delayed. While there is little evidence of a long-term benefit for women, the unemployment rate among males in the treatment group was six percentage points lower than that of the control group 5 years after the initial experiment.