In Simple Words
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.
Young jobseekers in 82 French youth centers
- Standard career guidance
- 69.9% trusted the youth center
- Guidance plus cash offer
- Estimated 7.8 percentage points more trusted it
Survey at 24 months. Response rates differed by group; missing answers could explain the difference. This concerns trust in youth centers, not all public institutions.
See source →Research question
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.
Participants
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.
Study Design
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.
Results
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.
Takeaway
Incorporate tangible monetary or material allowances into public counseling programs to build institutional trust and reduce client dropout rates among marginalized youth populations.
Source and citation
See source →Read alongside the research
Plain-English glossary
Original explanations, informed by the references below. Examples are illustrations, not data from the studies above. The research text stays unchanged.
- Percentage points
The difference between two percentages.
ExampleA rise from 40% to 50% is 10 percentage points. Relative to the starting value, that is a 25% increase.
Office for National Statistics · Percentages ↗Read more about percentage points →- Randomized controlled trial
A study that uses chance, like drawing lots, to decide who receives each option being compared. Researchers compare the groups’ outcomes to estimate the effect of those options.
ExampleA lottery assigns volunteers to a training programme or a comparison group. Researchers then compare their outcomes.
GET-IT glossary · Randomized study ↗Read more about randomized controlled trial →