Year Up's
Groundbreaking
Results

The data's clear: Year Up's effective job training generates
significant, sustainable earnings impacts for young adults
and unprecedented benefits to society.

Latest research confirms that Year Up’s earnings impacts continue to be the largest reported to date for workforce programs tested by gold-standard RCTs.


Partnering with the Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation (OPRE) and Abt Associates, Year Up is one of nine leading programs selected to take part in the federally-sponsored Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) Evaluation. This evaluation uses a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the rigorous “gold standard” of studies. This latest 2022 PACE report—the third publication in a series that compares workforce outcomes of treatment and control group members before, during, and after the Year Up program—evaluates Year Up outcomes six years after graduation.

Six years after graduating from Year Up, average earnings for those in the Year Up treatment group were 30% higher than for those in the control group. Average earnings gains of over $8,000 per year persisted to the end of the seven-year study period for Year Up treatment members—accumulating on average, over $38,000 more in total earnings compared to the control group.

Year Up’s positive impact on the broader economy increases each year, with its benefits to society far exceeding its costs. An update to Abt Associates’ conservative cost-benefit analysis concluded that every $1.00 spent on Year Up results in a benefit of $2.46 to society—meaning, at scale, a $100M investment in Year Up could generate $246M in net benefits to society.

The independent evaluation by Abt Associates found that average earnings gains of over $8,000 per year persisted to the end of the seven-year study period for Year Up treatment members.

 

Year Up’s cumulative earnings impacts over the seven-year study period were large and significant for all young adults and locations in the study.

 

While the ongoing pandemic has had a disproportionate economic impact on young adults of color, earnings gains for the Year Up group persisted during the economic downturn caused by COVID-19.

Latest report demonstrates Year Up's significant, long-term impact on earnings gains.

Six years out, average earnings for Year Up treatment group were 30% higher than the control group.

Further Reading

We invite you to enjoy the following:

For more PACE reports, visit PACE website.

 

Acknowledgements  

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF) was a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) that received funding from 2010 to 2016. Using public and private resources to find and grow community-based nonprofits with evidence of results, SIF intermediaries received funding to award subgrants that focus on overcoming challenges in economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development. CNCS supported the PACE evaluation through SIF grants to New Profit (2010-2015) and Venture Philanthropy Partners (2011-2016) and subgrants to Year Up. We are grateful to our SIF partners for their support.

We also wish to acknowledge the Open Society Foundations who made significant contributions to help Year Up expand participants recruitment for the study, and our partners at the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for their sponsorship of the wider top-notch evaluations team at Abt Associates who conducted this rigorous study and provided Year Up with technical assistance along the way.

Read the groundbreaking results:

Please see all of our PACE reports here:

Year Up is committed to ensuring equitable access to economic opportunity, education, and justice for all young adults—no matter their background, income, or zip code.


Make an impact and support our work today.



Learn more about Year Up’s Research & Evaluation efforts here.