Institutional Trust Building via Financial Transfers
RCTClinical Trial
Disadvantaged young jobseekers frequently exhibit deep-seated mistrust toward public employment agencies, creating barriers to sustained communication and counseling. Providing direct, tangible financial support through local agencies can improve participants' perception of and trust in those specific institutions, even if broader psychological traits remain unchanged.
Picture this
Imagine a neighborhood center that people usually avoid because they feel ignored or judged there. If the center begins giving visitors monthly cash payments to help cover basic expenses, people stop viewing the center as an adversary and start viewing it as a helpful partner. While their overall worldview or trust in other government branches might not change, their opinion of that specific helpful office improves significantly.
What the evidence says
Participants receiving conditional cash transfers were 7.8 percentage points more likely to express trust in the Job Youth Center after 24 months (control mean: 69.9%, p < 0.01) and 6.6 percentage points more likely after 12 months (control mean: 81.2%, p < 0.01). No significant changes were detected in underlying psychological traits such as locus of control, patience, or overall life satisfaction.
- Who was studied
- N = 3,413 survey respondents at 12 months and N = 2,310 survey respondents at 24 months from a randomized trial of 5,498 French youth aged 18–22.
- How
- Randomized controlled trial (RCT) using standardized survey items measuring trust in public institutions (Job Youth Centers, schools, justice system, healthcare) after 12 and 24 months.
What to do
Incorporate tangible monetary or material allowances into public counseling programs to build institutional trust and reduce client dropout rates among marginalized youth populations.
From the source
"Furthermore, we see a sustained improvement in the trust of young jobseekers into the JYC: Participants in the cash transfer group were 7.8 percentage points more likely to have trust in the JYC after 24 months of the program (control: 69.9%)."
Conditional_Cash_Transfers_on_the_Labor_Market_Evidence_from_Young.pdf