Founded in 1974, MDRC is committed to improving the lives of people with low incomes. We design promising new interventions, evaluate existing programs, and provide technical assistance to build better programs.
MDRC develops evidence about solutions to some of the nation’s most difficult problems. Explore our projects and variety of products, including publications, videos, podcast episodes, and resources for researchers and practitioners.
Using data from two random assignment welfare reform experiments, this report contributes insights to efforts to foster economic self-sufficiency in both the assisted housing and the welfare policy arenas.
Five-Year Impacts of Pre-Employment Services in the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies
This report finds that — over a five-year follow-up period — both mandatory employment-focused and education-focused welfare-to-work programs helped young adults attain higher earnings.
How Financial Aid Affects Nontraditional Students in Community Colleges
Examining federal, state, and institutional programs, the paper presents a framework for understanding challenges to securing comprehensive financial assistance for low-income working students.
Instructional Innovations That Help Low-Income Students Succeed in Community College
This paper looks at curricular and program redesign strategies currently used by community colleges to speed nontraditional students’ advancement from lower levels of skill into credential programs and to shorten the time commitment required to earn a credential.
Five-Year Results of a Program to Reduce Poverty and Reform Welfare
This rigorous long-term evaluation reveals that building a safety net of financial supports for low-income parents who work improved the well-being of their children.
This report examines the implementation of the community service jobs component of Wisconsin's Temporary Aid for Needy Families program during the program’s first three years of operation.
Thirty-Month Findings from the Evaluation of the Center for Employment Training Replication Sites
Efforts to replicate the experience of the Center for Employment Training in San Jose, California — a uniquely successful program that helped at-risk youth develop skills needed to compete in today’s labor market — showed mixed results.
Responding to the Challenges of Adult Student Persistence in Library Literacy Programs
Based on a study of nine adult literacy programs in public libraries, this report examines student characteristics, participation patterns, and new strategies to raise student persistence.
How to Design and Implement Financial Work Supports
This latest MDRC how-to guide identifies program features and practices that can help states better target financial work incentives and maximize their effectiveness.
Lessons and Implications for Future Community Employment Initiatives
Drawing upon the experiences of the lead community organizations during the initiative’s implementation phase, this third and final NJI report explores the feasibility and effectiveness of NJI’s novel approach to neighborhood revitalization.
