Topic Areas
CLEAR reviews studies in a variety of labor-related topic areas that are determined in collaboration with the Department of Labor (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office and DOL agency staff. Content matter experts for each topic area help develop the review protocols and determine which study types are included in the systematic review.
For the Behavioral Finance: Retirement topic area, CLEAR focuses on interventions grounded in insights from behavioral economics that may encourage employees to save more for retirement.
This topic area focuses on interventions that apply behavioral science insights to labor-related contexts.
CLEAR focuses on studies of Career Academies, a high school intervention model first launched in 1969 that, as of 2013, serves approximately one million students in 7,000 schools nationwide.
The child labor evidence review examines the existing causal evidence on child labor and child work targeted for elimination.
CLEAR reviews studies that examine the effectiveness of community college policies and programs that are intended to improve academic persistence, degree/certificate completion, and labor market outcomes of community college students.
CLEAR focuses on programs that seek to improve labor market outcomes for youth and working-age adults with disabilities.
CLEAR reviews studies to determine the quality of existing causal evidence on the effectiveness of rules, policies, and enforcement activities aimed at preventing discrimination by employers.
The self-employment and entrepreneurship topic area includes reviews of studies examining the effectiveness of interventions that promote individuals’ entrepreneurship and self- employment.
This topic area focuses on the effectiveness of interventions designed to help equip adults to plan for and succeed in preparing for retirement and to increase general financial literacy knowledge to improve money management. CLEAR conducted a systematic evidence review on the topic, assessed the quality of the causal evidence, and summarized each study’s approach, findings, and elements of the intervention examined.
The job search assistance topic area includes reviews of studies examining the effectiveness of job search assistance interventions, which aim to improve participants’ employment and earnings outcomes.
This topic area includes reviews of studies examining the effectiveness of interventions that aim to improve outcomes for youth involved in the justice system.
This topic area focuses on the effectiveness of literacy interventions for adults, including English-language learners, designed to increase employment and earnings by improving participants’ reading, writing, technological/digital, and financial skills. CLEAR assessed the quality of the causal evidence and summarized its approach, findings, and the intervention examined.
The low-income adults topic area includes reviews of studies examining the effectiveness of interventions that serve low-income adults with the goal of improving their employment and earnings outcomes. CLEAR assessed the strength of causal evidence provided in each study and summarized each study’s design, methods, findings, and the intervention examined.
CLEAR conducted many reviews in this topic area in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse and its predecessor the Employment Strategies for Low-Income Adults Evidence Review (ESER). For those studies, CLEAR rated the studies using the CLEAR Causal Evidence Guidelines and developed the study profiles posted here using information from the Pathways and ESER reviews.
CLEAR reviews studies on policies and interventions aimed at reducing or preventing mine worker injury, illness, disability, exposure to hazards, and death.
CLEAR focuses on employment and training programs and broad federal or state policies that support and/or improve the employment prospects and financial security for workers age 40 and older.
CLEAR focuses on youth aged 14-24 who have not recently been in school or the labor force. In particular, CLEAR examines the research on interventions designed to provide opportunities for these youth to improve their labor market outcomes.
CLEAR focuses on studies that examine the effectiveness of Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) enforcement activities.
CLEAR focuses on studies that examine interventions designed to promote faster reemployment of unemployment insurance claimants.
CLEAR focuses on employment and training programs that encourage basic skills development, educational attainment, employment, employment retention, and career advancement for individuals returning from incarceration.
The registered apprenticeship and work-based learning topic area includes reviews of studies examining the effectiveness of work-based learning programs on participants’ employment and earnings outcomes.
The Substance Use Disorders (SUD) topic area includes review of employment related interventions and barriers for persons with substance use disorders.
CLEAR focuses on employment and training programs that encourage basic skills development, educational attainment, completion of training programs and/or acquisition of certificates or credentials, employment, employment retention, and career advancement for veterans.
CLEAR focuses on studies that examine interventions designed to foster success among women in STEM fields.