Breaking Barriers to Employment: The Impact of Transitional Work on Economic Self-Sufficiency for Those Facing Obstacles to Work

ABSTRACTMany people face profound barriers to employment, such as former incarceration, mental illness, or homelessness. Without stable employment, people struggle to become economically self-sufficient. Transitional, paid work may give people job skills to help them obtain and maintain employment. This study examined four employment social enterprises, which provide paid transitional work for people facing employment obstacles. Eighteen months later, those experiencing transitional work had better outcomes in terms of employment status and income, and this effect is the same across race/ethnic and gender groups. The benefits persisted even during the economic crisis created with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords: economic self sufficiencyformer incarcerationhomelessnessmental illnessopportunity youthtransitional employment Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Supplementary materialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2023.2259877Additional informationFundingThis work was funded by REDF and RTI International. The authors are grateful for that funding, the comments of Erin Velez, and the assistance of the ESE staff who partnered with us in this study