The challenge
Teenagers in Chicago's most violent neighbourhoods faced high risks of being involved in violent crime.
The case
In summer 2012 the City of Chicago's One Summer Plus program offered 1,634 students from high-violence schools, randomly chosen from applicants, an eight-week, part-time paid job at a nonprofit or government agency, with an adult job mentor; some also received social-emotional learning sessions. Researcher Sara Heller compared them with applicants who weren't offered a place. For every 100 young people offered a job, there were four fewer violent-crime arrests over the following 16 months, a 43% decrease. Most of the drop came after the summer ended, so it wasn't just that the jobs kept teenagers busy. The program had no effect on other types of arrests or on school attendance.
Why it worked
A short, low-cost summer job cut violent-crime arrests, and the effect lasted well beyond the job itself. Adding social-emotional learning sessions in place of some work hours made no extra difference, so the benefit seems to come from the job and the mentor.
Sources
- Heller, S. B. (2014). Summer jobs reduce violence among disadvantaged youth. Science, 346(6214), 1219–1223.
- J-PAL. Summer Jobs Reduce Violence Among Youth Facing Barriers to Opportunity in the United States (evaluation summary).
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