6 February 2004 - Publication of DWP research – ‘Evaluation of lone parent work focused interviews: final findings from administrative data analysis’
Research published today by the Department for Work and Pensions carried out by the Policy Studies Institute presents final findings from administrative data examining the impact of the system of mandatory work focused interviews (WFIs) on lone parents claiming Income Support (IS).
The research involved analysis of administrative data for IS records, and NDLP and WFI participation, over the period May 1999 to May 2003. The method of ‘difference in differences’ was used to identify the net impact of the WFI system on outcomes for eligible lone parents. In conducting the analysis new/repeat IS claimants, and stock claimants were treated as two separate groups, as the programme operates differently for the two groups, and they are fundamentally different in the way they are constructed.
This report incorporates a refinement to the data definition for the new/repeat lone parent claimant client group, and, as such, fully updates early findings presented in the interim report (1) which was published in May 2003. This refinement of the definition has led to a difference between the interim and final findings, in that a statistically significant positive impact of the WFI system on the cohort of new/repeat lone parents analysed in this report is no longer present.
Key findings
Impacts for new/repeat claimants
The analysis did not find a statistically significant impact of WFIs on IS exits for new/repeat claimants, and the small size and varied direction of the impact was not consistent. Where an impact was found, it varied considerably by age of youngest child - for example, in the August-October 2001 cohort of new/repeat claimants, a small increase in IS exits was found mainly among those with youngest child aged 9 or 11, but there were negligible impacts for those lone parents with children of other ages.
The differences in the impact of WFIs on IS exits by age of youngest child could be linked to barriers for lone parents, real or perceived, which are lessened when children make the transition to secondary education. This varied responsiveness to WFIs contributed to the frailty of the average impact of WFIs, for this group of lone parents.
The take-up rate to NDLP by new/repeat claimants was substantially affected by the LP WFI system. Entry to NDLP was raised following introduction of WFIs by between 14 to 15 percentage points - from about 5 per cent entering within 3 months prior to the introduction of the system, to more than 20 per cent afterwards.
Again, this impact varied by age of youngest child, with the largest increases for lone parents with youngest child aged 6, and the lowest increase for those with youngest child aged 15. This gain in entry to NDLP due to WFIs was achieved about equally across each of the cohorts of entrants in the analysis (August-October 2001, November-January 2002 and February-March 2002).
Impacts for stock claimants
Work focused interviews had a positive impact on IS exits for stock claimants. At nine to twelve months after the introduction of WFIs, the impact of WFIs on IS exits was about one percentage point.
This impact varied, again, by age of youngest child, with the IS exit rate increasing the most for claimants with youngest child aged 14 (an increase of more than two percentage points) at 6-12 months after WFI introduction.
For claimants with youngest child aged 15 – plus, lone parents with ongoing claims were less likely to exit IS following the introduction of WFIs. This was probably due, however, to early delays in the implementation of the LP WFI system, together with the fact that lone parents’ claims for IS usually terminate when the youngest child reaches 16.
Stock claimants who were eligible for WFIs also increased their take-up rate to NDLP very substantially.
(1)‘Evaluation of Lone Parent Personal Adviser meetings: Interim findings from administrative data analysis’ Knight, G. and White, M., Policy Studies Institute, May 2003.
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