User:15/Articles/Marienthal job guarantee

The Marienthal Job Guarantee or MAGMA – Modellprojekt Arbeitsplatzgarantie Marienthal ("MAGMA – Pilot Scheme Job Guarantee Marienthal")(F) is the world's first universal job guarantee experiment.(E) It is run the Austrian town Marienthal and the surrounding municipality, Gramatneusiedl.(A) An estimated 150 long-term unemployed will take part,(D) the first wave of 31 residents signed the work contracts in December 2020.(E) The project is evaluated by a team of economists of Oxford University and sociologists of the University of Vienna.(G) A final report will be published in 2024 and those participating will be guaranteed a job for three years.(A)

Background
Marienthal, a town in lower Austria, was the subject of social science research before. In the 1930s, a team of researchers headed by Paul Lazarsfeld and Marie Jahoda studied the effects unemployment had on the local community.(J,G) The town was founded around a textile factory, its closure and the Great Depression in 1931 caused mass unemployment.(J,G) Of its 1,500 residents, only 80 were employed.(E) Researchers found that unemployment, beyond its financial impact, also had social consequences.(D) Those unemployed expressed indifference towards social life and social institutions such as libraries and social clubs fell into disuse. (E)(J) Their findings, titled Die Arbeitslosen von Marienthal ("The Unemployed of Marienthal") were published in 1933. After being translated into English in the 1970s, it received increased attention and became a classic in sociology.(G) The name of the scientific project evaluating the job guarantee experiment, marienthal.reversed, refers to the original study.(J) The Gramatsiedl municipality was also deemed suitable for the modern-day experiment due to its population's gender, age and educational composition being close to the nation's average.(K) The area experienced high structural unemployment since the 1980s, with long-term unemployed making up 20% of the unemployed population.(D)

Job guarantee scheme
All residents of Marienthal and its surrounding municipality, Gramatneusiedl, that have been unemployed for more than a year are eligible to participate.(I) The entire population of long-term unemployed, about 150, is expected to take part.(D)

Participants undergo a two-month preparatory course with training and counselling.(A) They are then assisted in finding private sector employment.(I) The wages of those successful in finding employment are subsidised up to 100%.(I) Participants who do not find employment in the private sector are helped to create their own job based on their individual skills and community needs.(A) They work as carpenters, gardeners or embroiderers.(E)(H) Of the first wave of 31 long-term unemployed, three work in the private sector.(E)

Evaluation
The experiment will be evaluated by economists of the University of Oxford and sociologists of the University of Vienna.(G) The economists, who aim to measure the scheme's economic benefits and its impact on participants health,(G) will take advantage of the staggered rollout of the scheme, making it effectively a randomised controlled trial. They also constructed a synthetic control group to estimate the schemes effect on the municipality as a whole.(I) In contrast to the economists' quantitative approach, the sociologists will use structured interviews and surveys to measure the participants' social well-being.(I)(G)

A:

Eligibility: all residents of Marienthal and the surrounding municipality, Gramatneusiedl. Unemployed for a year or more.

Two-month preparatory course with training and counselling. Then helped to find a subsidised private sector job or helped to create a job based on their skills and community needs (reword)

Participants guaranteed three years of employment, participants can work part-time

Estimated 150 people invited to take part (look for actual number??)

Goal: Eliminate long-term unemployment and offer useful work.

Final report will be published in 2024.

There will also be qualitative research conducted by University of Vienna researchers

Designed by Oxford economists, including Lukas Lehner (PhD candidate). Maximilian Kasy was co-designer

Funded by Public Employment Service of Lower Austria, cost of €7.4 million. Project is expected to cost slightly less than unemployment would.

Marienthal has been the focus of a social research study before: in the 1930s, a study was conducted on the effects of mass unemployment on health, wellbeing, social ties, and community life. Published as Marienthal: The Sociography of an Unemployed Community, classic in sociology

C:

Participants first look for a job on the regular labour market, subsidised at 100% for the first 3 months and 2/3s (MoS number?) for the remainder of the first year. Those without a regular job will be employed by a newly established social enterprise, participants paid minimum wage or more. Rolled out in multiple waves.

First wave of 31 participants began to receive training in October 2020

Plan to evaluate the program using the staggered rollout and synthetic control methods.

D:

Unconditional job guarantee

About 150 people estimate to take part, the entire population of long-term unemployed.

Precursor study "ground-beaking", how mass unemployment from the closure of the local textile factory affected the local community. Showed that unemployment had consequences beyond financial hardship for those affected.

The area was affected by long-term structural unemployment since the 1980s. Roughly 20% of unemployed are long-term unemployed.

E:

World's first universal jobs guarantee experiment.

Paid living wage at minimum, exact amount depends on occupation, industry and work experience

More than 9 months out of work

First wave of 31 participants started work in December 2020, mostly employed directly by the public employment services in fields such as gardening and carpentry. As of December, only 3 in private sector roles.

Goal: reduce unemployment and increase participants' wellbeing

In the 1930s, researchers studied 1,500 residents, only 80 residents were employed. Found that unemployed residents showed a lack of enthusiasm towards social life.

Co-designers of study are Lukas Lehner and Max Kasy.

Not everyone convinced of job guarantees, critics argue that such programs incentivise workers to withdraw from the private sector, others say that they don't lead to long-term employment. Study looking at a similar program for American prisoners found that it did not lead to increased long-term employment. (linked to this https://www.mdrc.org/publication/returning-work-after-prison)

F / I

Acronym MAGMA Modellprojekt Arbeitsplatzgarantie Marienthal

G:

1930s study published in 1933 by Paul Lazarsfeld and Marie Jahoda. Translated into English in the 1970s and now a staple of sociological research. In new study, economists of Oxford evaluate economic benefits and health outcomes, Vienna sociologists the participants' social well-being.

H:

possible activity also embroidery

Work between 16 and 38 hours

I:

Evaluated by economists from oxford and sociologists from vienna

Identification by RCT (staggered entry) and synthetic control group, Viennese sociologists use qualitative and mixed methods.

J:

The research part of the study by Oxford and Vienna called Marienthal.reversed. Refers to first Marienthal study which looks at the effects of long-term unemployment. Town was founded after a textile factory was set up, its closure and the 1931 economic crisis led to increasing unemployment.

K:

The Gramatneusiedl municipality, of which Marienthal is part, was deemed suitable in part due to its gender, age and education average (wording). Historical meaning due to precursor study, classic in sociology.

Sources

OFFICIAL/connected to the experiment

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-11-02-world-s-first-universal-jobs-guarantee-experiment-starts-austria (A)

https://www.spi.ox.ac.uk/article/worlds-first-universal-jobs-guarantee-experiment-starts-in-austria (B) (mostly identical to (A))

https://maxkasy.github.io/home/files/other/PAP_job_guarantee_Marienthal.pdf (pre analysis plan) (C)

https://www.ams.at/regionen/niederoesterreich/news/2020/10/ams-noe-startet-weltweit-erstes-modellprojekt-einer-arbeitsplatz (I)

3rd party coverage

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/unconditional-job-guarantee-trial-austria-marienthal-oxford-universal-basic-income-b1451788.html (D)

https://www.businessinsider.com/austria-worlds-first-universal-jobs-guarantee-experiment-2020-11 (E)

https://kurier.at/chronik/niederoesterreich/jobgarantie-in-noe-die-neue-arbeit-in-marienthal/401127678 (F)

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000121172201/ein-garantierter-job-fuer-alle-arbeitslose-ams-testet-in-marienthal (G)

https://www.zeit.de/2021/33/jobgarantie-langzeitarbeitslose-experiment-gramatneusiedl-oesterreich-arbeitslosigkeit (paywalled) (H)

https://www.noen.at/niederoesterreich/wirtschaft/pilotprojekt-in-noe-der-ort-wo-jeder-arbeit-bekommt-gramatneusiedl-niederoesterreich-print-langzeitarbeitslosigkeit-ams-arbeitsmarkt-magma-272567811 (J)

https://kontrast.at/marienthal-arbeitslose-ams-arbeitsplatzgarantie-corona/ (K)

Other

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Arbeitslosen_von_Marienthal (German article on the precursor)