PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Indivar Dutta-Gupta AU - Kali Grant AU - Julie Kerksick AU - Dan Bloom AU - Ajay Chaudry TI - Working to Reduce Poverty: A National Subsidized Employment Proposal AID - 10.7758/RSF.2018.4.3.04 DP - 2018 Feb 01 TA - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences PG - 64--83 VI - 4 IP - 3 4099 - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/4/3/64.short 4100 - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/4/3/64.full AB - Subsidized employment programs that increase labor supply and demand are a proven, underutilized strategy for reducing poverty in the short and long term. These programs use public and private funds to provide workers wage-paying jobs, training, and wraparound services to foster greater labor force attachment while offsetting employers’ cost for wages, on-the-job training, and overhead. This article proposes two new separate but harmonized federal funding streams for subsidized employment that would expand automatically when and where economic conditions deteriorate. Participating states and local organizations would be offered generous matching funds to target adult workers most in need and to secure employer participation. The proposal would effectively reduce poverty among workers during work placements, and improve long-term unsubsidized employment and other outcomes for participants and their families.