Vocational Rehabilitation and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from World War I Veterans

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Schmick
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Ethan Schmick

Abstract This article uses a linked sample of World War I Army veterans from the state of Missouri to study the impact of vocational rehabilitation on labor market outcomes for men wounded and disabled during the war. Veterans’ military service abstracts are linked to the 1940 US Census and a subset are linked to rehabilitation records. This creates a new dataset that contains information on military service, rehabilitation, and labor market outcomes. I find that 70 percent of veterans that were both wounded in action and disabled when discharged from the army participated in the rehabilitation program. These same veterans had significantly better labor market outcomes, which can be attributed to the rehabilitation program under certain assumptions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 92-102
Author(s):  
Nancy Reims ◽  
Silke Tophoven

Poor young people more often face health difficulties, (learning) disabilities, and are overrepresented in special schools. Consequently, youth from poor households disproportionately frequently participate in disability‐specific programs aiming to improve their educational levels and labor market opportunities. They face a double burden of disability and poverty. In our study, we look at poor and non‐poor youth with disabilities (YPWD) who participate in vocational rehabilitation (VR) and whether VR helps them (a) in transitioning into employment and (b) in leaving poverty. We examine the association between the receipt of initial basic income support (BIS) as a poverty indicator, later labor market outcomes, and earned vocational qualification using administrative data. We make use of a sample of all persons accepted for VR in 2010 (N = 36,645). We employ logit models on VR attendees’ labor market outcomes three and five years after being accepted for VR as well as on their earned vocational qualifications. Beside initial poverty status, we control for educational level, type, and degree of disability and program pattern during the VR process. Our findings show that YPWD from poor households have a decreased likelihood of a vocational certificate and employment. Additionally, they are more likely to receive BIS than young people not from poor households and thus more likely to remain poor. In conclusion, VR seems to support poor YPWD less in their school‐to‐work transitions. Thus, disability‐specific programs should be more tailored to the social situations of participants, and counsellors should be more sensitive to their social backgrounds.


2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Clapp ◽  
John V. Pepper ◽  
Robert Schmidt ◽  
Steven Stern

Introduction: This study describes the characteristics of, services received by, and labor market outcomes of applicants with visual impairments to three state vocational rehabilitation programs. Our objective is to both document cross-state variation in vocational rehabilitation clientele and services and provide new insights on the longitudinal labor market outcomes of clients with visual impairments (i.e., blindness or low vision). This analysis is a first step in assessing the returns to vocational rehabilitation services for this population. Methods: We first created a unique longitudinal data set by matching administrative records on applicants who are visually impaired in state fiscal year 2007 from three vocational rehabilitation agencies to 8 years of employment data from state Unemployment Insurance programs. Using these data, we examined cross-state variation in the descriptive statistics for important client explanatory variables and vocational rehabilitation service categories. We then compared the long-term labor market outcomes of clients receiving services (treated) to untreated individuals. Results: We documented two important findings. First, there were substantial differences in client characteristics, services provided, and costs across the three states. Second, the long-run labor market analysis was consistent with vocational rehabilitation services having no employment effect but a positive earnings effect. Discussion: Labor market results indicate vocational rehabilitation services provided persistent earnings benefits. Yet the substantial cross-state heterogeneity suggests these labor market results might not be generalizable and should be interpreted with caution. We explain what was missing from this analysis and why the results should not be thought of as causal. Implications for Practitioners: This article gives practitioners a sense of a unique new data set on vocational rehabilitation and labor market variables for applicants with visual impairments. We highlight the importance of cross-state variation and linking vocational rehabilitation data to long-term employment measures. The question of how best to inform the efficacy of different vocational rehabilitation strategies for clients with visual impairments is left for future researchers to consider.


Author(s):  
Carla Calero ◽  
Veronica Gonzales ◽  
Yuri Soares ◽  
Jochen Kluve ◽  
Carlos Henrique Leite Corseuil

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