Practitioner’s Playbook for Applying Behavioral Insights to Labor Programs website
This document provides an overview of how practitioners can incorporate behavioral insights into their labor programs and is based on Mathematica’s behavioral insights study conducted for the U.S. Department of Labor.
From April 30, 2017
The designers of Department of Labor programs usually assume that people make decisions after fully considering their options and then act on those decisions. However, behavioral science shows that this assumption can often be wrong. People procrastinate and forget to do important tasks. Too many choices and small hassles can overwhelm them.
DOL worked with Mathematica and ideas42 to test whether applying behavioral science principles to diverse labor programs might help these programs better meet their goals. Studies suggest that relatively modest changes to program materials, forms, or processes can greatly improve participant outcomes and program performance.