Age, health and other factors associated with return to work for those engaging with a welfare-to-work initiative: a cohort study of administrative data from the UK's Work Programme

Judith Brown; Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi; Alastair H Leyland; Ronald W McQuaid; John Frank; Ewan B Macdonald

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024938

Age, health and other factors associated with return to work for those engaging with a welfare-to-work initiative: a cohort study of administrative data from the UK's Work Programme

Judith Brown, Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi, Alastair H Leyland, Ronald W McQuaid, John Frank, Ewan B Macdonald

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of individual factors (including age, health and personal circumstances) and external factors associated with clients having a job start while engaging with the Work Programme and variations by benefit type.

SETTING: The UK Government's main return to work initiative (The Work Programme) in Scotland.

DESIGN: Piecewise Poisson regression to calculate incident rate ratios using administrative data from 2013 to 2016 to identify factors associated with job start.

PARTICIPANTS: 4322 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) clients not in work due to poor health and 8996 Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) clients, aged 18-64 years, referred to the Work Programme between April 2013 and July 2014.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Starting a job and the time to first job start after entering the Work Programme.

RESULTS: JSA clients (62%) were more likely to return to work (RTW) than ESA clients (20%). There is a strong negative relationship between age and the predicted probability of having a job start during the 2-year engagement with the programme for both JSA and ESA clients. JSA clients were most likely to RTW in the first 3 months, while for ESA clients the predicted probability of having a first job start was fairly constant over the 2 years. Health, including the number of health conditions, length of unemployment, client perception of job start and other individual factors were associated with job starts for both groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Age plays an important role in influencing RTW; however, important potentially modifiable factors include the length of unemployment, the management of multimorbidity and the individual's perception of the likelihood of job start. Future welfare-to-work programmes may be improved by providing age-specific interventions which focus on health and biopsychosocial factors to enable more people to realise the potential health benefits of RTW.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	e024938
Journal	BMJ Open
Volume	8
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024938
Publication status	Published - 27 Oct 2018

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@article{d2396b722beb402fb05fc26187ba93bd,

title = "Age, health and other factors associated with return to work for those engaging with a welfare-to-work initiative: a cohort study of administrative data from the UK's Work Programme",

abstract = "OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of individual factors (including age, health and personal circumstances) and external factors associated with clients having a job start while engaging with the Work Programme and variations by benefit type.SETTING: The UK Government's main return to work initiative (The Work Programme) in Scotland.DESIGN: Piecewise Poisson regression to calculate incident rate ratios using administrative data from 2013 to 2016 to identify factors associated with job start.PARTICIPANTS: 4322 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) clients not in work due to poor health and 8996 Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) clients, aged 18-64 years, referred to the Work Programme between April 2013 and July 2014.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Starting a job and the time to first job start after entering the Work Programme.RESULTS: JSA clients (62%) were more likely to return to work (RTW) than ESA clients (20%). There is a strong negative relationship between age and the predicted probability of having a job start during the 2-year engagement with the programme for both JSA and ESA clients. JSA clients were most likely to RTW in the first 3 months, while for ESA clients the predicted probability of having a first job start was fairly constant over the 2 years. Health, including the number of health conditions, length of unemployment, client perception of job start and other individual factors were associated with job starts for both groups.CONCLUSIONS: Age plays an important role in influencing RTW; however, important potentially modifiable factors include the length of unemployment, the management of multimorbidity and the individual's perception of the likelihood of job start. Future welfare-to-work programmes may be improved by providing age-specific interventions which focus on health and biopsychosocial factors to enable more people to realise the potential health benefits of RTW.",

author = "Judith Brown and Katikireddi, {Srinivasa Vittal} and Leyland, {Alastair H} and McQuaid, {Ronald W} and John Frank and Macdonald, {Ewan B}",

note = "{\textcopyright} Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.",

year = "2018",

month = oct,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024938",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

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Age, health and other factors associated with return to work for those engaging with a welfare-to-work initiative : a cohort study of administrative data from the UK's Work Programme. / Brown, Judith; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Leyland, Alastair H et al.

In: BMJ Open, Vol. 8, No. 10, 27.10.2018, p. e024938.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Age, health and other factors associated with return to work for those engaging with a welfare-to-work initiative

T2 - a cohort study of administrative data from the UK's Work Programme

AU - Brown, Judith

AU - Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal

AU - Leyland, Alastair H

AU - McQuaid, Ronald W

AU - Frank, John

AU - Macdonald, Ewan B

PY - 2018/10/27

Y1 - 2018/10/27

N2 - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of individual factors (including age, health and personal circumstances) and external factors associated with clients having a job start while engaging with the Work Programme and variations by benefit type.SETTING: The UK Government's main return to work initiative (The Work Programme) in Scotland.DESIGN: Piecewise Poisson regression to calculate incident rate ratios using administrative data from 2013 to 2016 to identify factors associated with job start.PARTICIPANTS: 4322 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) clients not in work due to poor health and 8996 Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) clients, aged 18-64 years, referred to the Work Programme between April 2013 and July 2014.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Starting a job and the time to first job start after entering the Work Programme.RESULTS: JSA clients (62%) were more likely to return to work (RTW) than ESA clients (20%). There is a strong negative relationship between age and the predicted probability of having a job start during the 2-year engagement with the programme for both JSA and ESA clients. JSA clients were most likely to RTW in the first 3 months, while for ESA clients the predicted probability of having a first job start was fairly constant over the 2 years. Health, including the number of health conditions, length of unemployment, client perception of job start and other individual factors were associated with job starts for both groups.CONCLUSIONS: Age plays an important role in influencing RTW; however, important potentially modifiable factors include the length of unemployment, the management of multimorbidity and the individual's perception of the likelihood of job start. Future welfare-to-work programmes may be improved by providing age-specific interventions which focus on health and biopsychosocial factors to enable more people to realise the potential health benefits of RTW.

AB - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of individual factors (including age, health and personal circumstances) and external factors associated with clients having a job start while engaging with the Work Programme and variations by benefit type.SETTING: The UK Government's main return to work initiative (The Work Programme) in Scotland.DESIGN: Piecewise Poisson regression to calculate incident rate ratios using administrative data from 2013 to 2016 to identify factors associated with job start.PARTICIPANTS: 4322 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) clients not in work due to poor health and 8996 Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) clients, aged 18-64 years, referred to the Work Programme between April 2013 and July 2014.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Starting a job and the time to first job start after entering the Work Programme.RESULTS: JSA clients (62%) were more likely to return to work (RTW) than ESA clients (20%). There is a strong negative relationship between age and the predicted probability of having a job start during the 2-year engagement with the programme for both JSA and ESA clients. JSA clients were most likely to RTW in the first 3 months, while for ESA clients the predicted probability of having a first job start was fairly constant over the 2 years. Health, including the number of health conditions, length of unemployment, client perception of job start and other individual factors were associated with job starts for both groups.CONCLUSIONS: Age plays an important role in influencing RTW; however, important potentially modifiable factors include the length of unemployment, the management of multimorbidity and the individual's perception of the likelihood of job start. Future welfare-to-work programmes may be improved by providing age-specific interventions which focus on health and biopsychosocial factors to enable more people to realise the potential health benefits of RTW.

U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024938

DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024938

M3 - Article

C2 - 30368452

VL - 8

SP - e024938

JO - BMJ Open

JF - BMJ Open

SN - 2044-6055

IS - 10

ER -

Age, health and other factors associated with return to work for those engaging with a welfare-to-work initiative: a cohort study of administrative data from the UK's Work Programme

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