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Participants increased savings or asset ownership in 9 out of 10 evaluations examining asset accumulation; in Tunisia, participants retained significantly higher home, livestock, and furniture ownership 5 years post-program despite a 5 percentage point drop in employment probability.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, overall public works program increases in participant employment probability and average hours worked were driven primarily by female employment gains.
In India's NREGA, 80 percent of the total earnings increase for participants resulted from higher private sector wages rather than direct program transfers. In Ethiopia, public works rollouts increased private sector wages by 9 to 18 percent by reducing private sector labor supply.
The upper quartile of participants who benefited most from the program saw short-term earnings increase by 2.2 times the earnings gain experienced by participants in the lowest quartile.
Public works program participants worked 16 percent more days in self-employment compared to non-participants, measured more than a year after program completion.
Five years post-program completion, public works participants experienced a 5 percentage point decline in the probability of engaging in any income-generating activity compared to non-participants, driven by elevated wage expectations and missed private sector opportunities.
Workfare programs paying at or below minimum wage ($1.80 per day in Sierra Leone) successfully targeted impoverished individuals, boosting participant incomes by 29 percent during active participation without attracting higher-wage workers.