Evaluation of the Australian Wage Subsidy Special Youth ...

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Stretton attributed the success of SYETP to retention. This falls in with the generally
stated belief held in the BLMR analysis that the chief advantage of the subsidy was firstly
the immediate impact on the employment status, where their ILO labour market status
was now employment instead of unemployment, and the strong potential to remain in the
job after the subsidy finished. Non-completion was however common for most
programmes with only 54.5 per cent of all programmes completed, and a large part of
early analysis focused on withdrawal and completion rates, together with their reasons
(BLMR (1983) p22 Table 3.6). Earlier BLMR (1983) analysis reported that the
programme provisions themselves were a key source of this variation. The earlier section
2.2.6.3 and Table 2.16 gave SYETP completion rates in the administrative data and
showed that Private SYETP had low completion rates. But for Private SYETP in
particular, a uniquely large number, approximately half of early terminations, were
dismissals. It was in contrast, not surprisingly, extremely rare for EPUY training
participants to be terminated. 54 In BLMR (1983) it was concluded that job search
accounted for the large part of voluntary withdrawal. Stretton did not account for
dismissals in his modelling. Of early leavers with no job to go to, employment chances
would likely be strongly affected by dismissal, in a different way to voluntary withdrawal
for job search or other reasons.
2.3.2 Baker (1984)
Baker (1984) used survey data of participants to evaluate the employment impact of a
number of programmes, including SYETP. The survey was of 3713 persons who were
surveyed in May 1982 after they were selected from programme administrative data. The
overall response rate was 66 per cent, but varied by the programme sampled: the response
rate for private SYETP was 60 per cent, but 69 per cent for Commonwealth SYETP.
Employment and labour market activity was observed at about six to eight months after
programme participation. The raw full-time employment share at interview date for
participants of SYETP private was 60.6 per cent, slightly lower for Commonwealth
54 For EPUY the statistics were: 4.5 per cent dismissals, 37.6 per cent voluntary withdrawal, and a 57.5 per
cent completion rate; Mean approved program period 14 weeks, average observed approved time used 80.8
per cent Source: Table 3.6, p22 BLMR (1983).