Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339481 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IFS Working Papers No. 25/06
Publisher: 
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), London
Abstract: 
We evaluate the short- and long-run effects of a large conditional cash transfer program that paid students to remain in full-time education beyond the compulsory school-leaving age. The Education Maintenance Allowance paid teenagers from low-income families in the United Kingdom up to £30 per week ($70 in 2024 prices). Exploiting the programme's staggered rollout across local areas in England, we find that participation in full-time education increased by two percentage points among the poorest students, and that the programme lowered crime amongst pupils with the lowest prior attainment. However, we find no improvements in test scores, no effect on qualifications beyond the lowest level, and a small negative effect on the labour market outcomes of eligible young people in their twenties. While the reductions in crime may have generated some social benefits, these are small relative to the programme's substantial costs.
Subjects: 
conditional cash transfer
long-term effects
earnings
JEL: 
I28
J24
H52
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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