The “FORWORK Italy – Impact evaluation report” provides information about the impacts produced by the FORWORK intervention in Italy.

The evaluation design consisted of a large-scale randomized controlled trial, whereby eligibility to FORWORK was randomized across a large experimental sample of emergency reception centers (Centri di Accoglienza Straordinaria, CAS). The evaluation sample was drawn in September 2019 and consisted of 1,262 individuals, randomized into two statistically equivalent groups: an eligible group of 622 individuals, in 133 CAS and 29 managing entities; and a control group of 640 individuals, in 131 CAS and 29 managing entities.

We evaluated the impact of FORWORK on employment and other measures of integration using three main sources of data: registries of asylum seekers hosted in CAS; administrative records on employment histories from the PES informative system (Sistema Informativo Piemonte Lavoro, SILP); and baseline and endline surveys.

FORWORK beneficiaries joined the program over about 20 months, from December 2019 through July 2021. The average take-up rate of the program was 66%.

FORWORK increased the employment rate of participants by 15 percentage points. The effects on employment were slightly larger in magnitude for male than for female participants (+17 and +13 percentage points, respectively), but the relative effect over the baseline was larger for females than for males.

FORWORK had a positive effect on proficiency in Italian language – on understanding and speaking the language in particular, while there are no significant effects on reading and writing.

FORWORK also affected the social networks of participants, in particular connections and interpersonal trust with Italian people.

The report can be downloaded and this link.