Table 3 Effect directions for exposures/interventions/policies on ‘More equity in distribution of the benefits of the economy’

[66]

Unemployment insurance coming to an end (i.e. state-administered social security for people who are unemployed which has a time limit and known expiration date)

▲

Transition to employment increased in the month/week that benefits came to an end

High

High ROB studies excluded

12/12

National programmes in European countries, the USA, and Canada

Unemployed individuals

[68]

(i) Increased eligibility for disability benefits, i.e. relaxed eligibility for income replacement benefits provided by the state to those not in the labour market for more than 3 months due to health problems or disabilities

◄►

RA conclude there is ‘insufficient evidence’, and available evidence is mixed

Low

PS not meeting validity criteria excluded. RA note lack of evidence ‘of a high enough quality’ (p. 1112)

15/16

Canada, Norway, Sweden, the UK

Working age adults (16–69 years) with health problems or disabilities

(ii) Increased generosity of disability benefits, i.e. increased generosity of income replacement benefits provided by the state to those not in the labour market for more than 3 months due to health problems or disabilities

▼

RA highlight that lack of high-quality evidence to determine extent of effect

[62]

Workplace disability management programmes provided by employers within the workplace setting to address sick leave due to physical or mental ill health

◄►

RA unable to conclude regarding effectiveness due to insufficient data

High

Overall quality of the two non-randomised studies reported as ‘low’

13/13

Interventions in North America only

Employees on sick leave due to physical injury, illness or mental health disorders

[71]

Interventions intended to increase economic self-sufficiency and wellbeing of refugees. No restrictions on intervention type and could include employment casework, translation and administrative support, mentorship, interview training and therapy or community support

-

Unable to code ED as no eligible studies identified

High

N/A

N/A

Refugees

[60]

(i) Skills training interventions which could include providing technical skills, business skills, literacy and numeracy and non-technical skills, e.g. life skills/soft skills

▲

RA report effect is small

Moderate

Although not a full risk-of-bias assessment, quality of PS assessed as 48% high, 42% medium and 9% low quality (of 113 primary studies, 65 of which were in high-income countries)

113/113

Interventions aimed at young people aged 15–35 years globally (58% HIC, 42% LMIC)

We report here on results for HIC only (i.e. 65 studies)

(ii) Entrepreneurship promotion interventions including providing entrepreneurial skills, access to credit (Inc. microfinance), start-up grants and technical support, support for micro franchising

◄►

Lack of effect sizes for HIC, i.e. insufficient data

(iii) Subsidised employment including wage subsidies and public employment programmes intended to reduce employers’ labour costs

◄►

RA state no effect

(iv) Employment services including support with job search, mentoring, job counselling and placements and technical/financial support

◄►

RA state effect negligible

[69]^b

(i) Individual case management and job search assistance such as help with job searches and vocational advice

▲

RA conclude that personal advisers and case management can help participants back to work but selection bias problematic

Critically low

Papers critically appraised but scores not reported and used descriptively to inform interpretation of the results

6/31

National programmes focused on working age adults with long-term illness or disability in the UK only

[70]

(i) Anti-discrimination legislation, i.e. to outlaw discrimination and require employers to make reasonable adjustments. All studies focused on the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act (1995, 2005)

◄►

RA conclude lack of evidence which has detected an effect at a population level

Critically low

Papers critically assessed but scores not reported. Review authors comment ‘few studies provided robust evaluations’ (p. 434)

12/30

National programmes in Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK

For studies of anti-discrimination legislation — all were focused on UK legislation

Working age adults (16–65 years) who are chronically ill or disabled

(ii) Workplace adjustments including legal or financial actions to address the accessibility of work to those who are disabled/chronically ill

▲

RA conclude positive impact but low uptake

(iii) Wage subsidies for employing people with disabilities including creation of jobs or financial incentives to encourage employers to employ people with disabilities or chronic illness

◄►

RA conclude wage subsidies can be effective if sufficiently generous but can have unintended effects and both positive and negative effects

(iv) Return-to-work (RTW) planning includes measures to require employers to engage in order to speed up return to work

▲

RA conclude RTW planning can reduce sick leave but uptake by employers low

[63]^c

(i) Cognitive behaviour therapy delivered by Jobcentre Plus work psychologists over 8 weeks for those anxiety/depression

◄►

RA conclude insufficient evidence

Critically low

One PS assessed as low quality, one as medium quality

2/3

Interventions in the UK to support people receiving ‘incapacity benefit’ to return to work

(ii) Work-focused interviews/employability support, specifically the Pathways to Work programme which involved mandatory work-focused interviews and voluntary engagement in some/all of the following: training, a return-to-work credit, mentoring, job coach, occupational health support, financial advice and a discretionary fund for purchases to support return to work

▲

Effects stronger for women and for those without mental illness

[67]^d

(ii) Vocational advice and support services intended to provide support with identifying opportunities and obtaining work

◄►

RA state that PS found positive impact, but only study with a control did not identify an effect

Critically low

Quality criteria not clear but PS with ‘substantive flaws’ excluded (p. 1908). RA report quality of observational studies specifically as ‘variable’ (p. 1916)

2/16

Programmes in the UK

Individuals of working age (16–59/64 years) with a moderate physical or mental illness/disability

(iii) In-work benefits intended to offer financial incentives to employers to employ those who with a disability or chronic illness

◄►

RA found three (of four) studies found positive impact but uptake low

[64]

Housing interventions for homeless families such as Housing First, rapid, emergency or transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, etc.

▲

RA conclude positive effect but note that mothers were generally not earning a living wage or in stable employment

Moderate

PS quality reported as weak or moderate

6/6

Focused on homeless families in the USA only

[65]

Unemployment insurance, i.e. state-administered benefit for those who are unemployed

▲

Unable to code EDs for specific interventions

Low

Of the three PS focused on poverty, one assessed as weak, one moderate, one strong

3/3 (12 total PS)

For the three PS focused on poverty — North America and Nordic European countries

Working population

[73]

(i) Unemployment insurance (i.e. state benefit for those who are unemployed) — generosity of eligibility criteria, i.e. who it can be received by

▲

Critically low

Not reported

3/15 (33 total PS)

Working age adults

OECD countries. For the studies focused on poverty — eastern European countries (specifically in the 1990s) and North America

(ii) Unemployment insurance (i.e. state benefit for those who are unemployed) — level of benefit, i.e. the extent to which benefits replace wages

◄►

When benefit levels too low poverty not reduced — no change

(iii) Unemployment insurance — flexibility eligibility criteria, e.g. accommodating the working patterns of seasonal or part-time workers

▲

Flexible eligibility criteria associated with preventing material hardship

[61]

Social support, specifically perceived informal support, either instrumental support (e.g. emergency access to a place to stay, child care, loan of money) or emotional support (e.g. someone to talk to).

▲

Effect does not extend to employment, job quality or wages

Low

Of the studies focused on economic outcomes, all assessed as within the high-quality range

9/9 (65 total PS)

Focused on low-income mothers in the USA only

[60]

(i) Skills training interventions which could include providing technical skills, business skills, literacy and numeracy and non-technical skills, e.g. life skills/soft skills

◄►

Effect size small and confidence interval marginal suggests no change

Moderate

Although not a full risk-of-bias assessment, quality of PS assessed as 48% high, 42% medium and 9% low quality (of 113 primary studies, 65 of which were in high-income countries)

113/113

Interventions aimed at young people aged 15–35 years globally (58% HIC, 42% LMIC)

We report here on results for HIC only (i.e. 65 studies)

(ii) Entrepreneurship promotion interventions including providing entrepreneurial skills, access to credit (inc. microfinance), start-up grants and technical support, support for micro franchising

◄►

RA state lack of effect sizes in HIC meant it could not be analysed, i.e. insufficient data

(iv) Employment services including support with job search, mentoring, job counselling and placements and technical/financial support

◄►

Effect size small and confidence interval marginal suggests no change

(iii) Subsidised employment including wage subsidies and public employment programmes intended to reduce employers’ labour costs

▼

Negative effect but small

[74]

Government policies to tackle income inequality e.g. fiscal policies, education policies, trade liberalisation and labour market reform

-

Unable to code ED due to lack of data on PS denominator

Critically low

Not reported

Unclear

Unclear. Global in focus but context not specified