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Welfare to work, does VET make a difference?
By Tom Karmel
TAFE Teacher
24 April 2009
The challenge of going from welfare to work can at best be described as daunting. However, for some Welfare to Work recipients, the chances of entering the workforce is increased by undertaking vocational education and training (VET).
In a new study published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Kevin Mark, Nhi Nguyen and I examine data from the Student Outcomes Survey to look at the fundamental issue of whether VET actually helps Welfare to Work recipients find a job.
The social policy push in recent years to encourage individuals in receipt of welfare payments to take up paid work has focused on four particular groups; parents of children aged between 6 and 15 years, mature aged recipients aged between 50 and 64 years, people with disabilities who can work part-time, and the long term unemployed.
An important aspect of this policy is the role that training plays in enabling individuals from these groups to obtain paid employment. You would expect that VET, with its emphasis on providing a ‘second chance’ would play an important role in helping these groups into work. And in some cases we found that it does.
A common trait that almost all members of these welfare groups share is a poor educational background; and with such a background they are ill equipped for the workforce. One obvious strategy to improve the job prospects of these people is to provide vocational training.
To try and answer this question we looked at the employment outcomes of groups that have similar characteristics to the Welfare to Work groups, six months after they completed their training. As a control group we used those not completing a low level certificate (ie certificate I or II) – this is as close as we can get to a ‘no training’ group.
So, does VET really does make a difference in increasing the job prospects of Welfare to Work recipients? From our results we found that training is associated with a substantial improvement in employment prospects in a number of cases, but this is far from being universal. Welfare recipients are much more likely to secure employment if they complete certificate III and above, as opposed to the partial completion of a qualification, or the completion of a certificate I or II. That is, a little training makes little difference. The impact of training is also dependent on the underlying chances of employment of individuals. If someone already has a good chance of employment then further training will not make much difference to their job prospects.
In short, VET can make a difference, but not any VET, and not for all individuals.
An allied question is on how VET can be effectively delivered to people making the transition from welfare to work. The role of vocational education and training in welfare to work by John Guenther, Ian Falk and Allan Arnott suggests the personal circumstances are, not surprisingly, very important. Transport, child care and ill health, all can impact an individual’s ability to find work.
On the whole, completion of a qualification is of more benefit to employment outcomes than not completing. Finishing certificate III and above is also more likely to improve an individual’s job prospects than certificate I and II. With this in mind, providing flexibility and support to people from these welfare groups to ensure that they complete their training is important. While VET on its own is not the definitive answer to the matter of welfare to work, it is well placed to provide skills that help get a job. However, the training must be of some substance and is less important to those who already have good job prospects.
Welfare to work: Does vocational education and training make a difference? is available from NCVER’s website: http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2105.html
The role of vocational education and training in welfare to work by John Guenther, Ian Falk and Allan Arnott is available from NCVER’s website: http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1986.html
Dr Tom Karmel is the Managing Director of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research.
