OECD report highlights the importance of evaluation
An evaluation of New Zealand’s labour market initiatives has been singled out by the OECD as a factor in the success of the policies. The report highlights the WRK4U and Jobs Jolt initiatives, introduced in 2003, as effective activation programmes.
It says the ‘can-do’ philosophy of Work and Income had an increasingly positive influence on work placements and unemployment rates, and the decline in unemployment accelerated with the introduction of a package of activation programmes in 2003.
The report goes on to say that an improvement in the volume and accuracy of evaluations was an important background factor for the implementation of effective policies. WRK4U was an example where the evaluation was able to provide good information on its effectiveness in a very short time frame.
WRK4U is a 30-minute seminar that people applying for the unemployment benefit can voluntarily attend before making a formal application for the benefit. The seminar covers a person’s rights and obligations when receiving the unemployment benefit. Participants also receive an information pack to make a benefit application. After the seminar, the client can set up a case manager interview (urgent cases are seen that day) or apply later.
Marc de Boer, Ministry of Social Development Principal Analyst, said WRK4U was piloted in three Auckland sites (Onehunga, Avondale and Manukau) between March and August 2003. The evaluation showed WRK4U produced a substantial reduction in the number of people who chose to apply for the unemployment benefit (26% reduction in applications and 20% reduction in grants).
In addition, WRK4U took less case manager time to administer than the existing case management process. “Based on this knowledge of ‘what works’, WRK4U was rolled out nationally in August 2003. The national roll-out saw a sharp drop in the number of people moving on to the unemployment benefit, indicating the seminar was successful as a national programme.”
Marc said the evaluation was a ‘just in time’ evaluation. “That’s in the sense that the Auckland region had chosen to pilot the seminar and we were lucky in being able to compare WRK4U in the pilot sites to non-pilot sites.”
