"Collective unconsciousness can be so vast that even the most global societal policies may be undeclared, unexplicated, unacknowledged, and even denied. Thus for many people to all work toward a bad thing requires no deliberate or conscious conspiracy" - Wolfensberger 2007
Do Wage subsidies work?
We might hope that were so, after all, the Commonwealth Government spend a small fortune subsidising the wage cost of folk from a variety of disadvantaged groups. However, there's not a whole load of research to suggest a subsidy is of genuine benefit to the person concerned and I will come back to the argument that, for people with disability, ineffective use of wage subsidy can be a damaging experience.
First of all, some recent research (1):
"In this study, we investigate an employer-side wage subsidy targeted at the long-term unemployed in Germany. The program's objective is to increase exit rates from unemployment to employment and to induce stable employment relationships for the economically disadvantaged target group. Using a large administrative data we assess the effectiveness of the program by estimating the impact of subsidy eligibility on employment outcomes.
We exploit the eligibility criterion of the program in conjunction with an RDD approach to investigate whether or not the availability of the subsidy is beneficial for the target group. Individuals just below the 12-month unemployment threshold are used as control group reflecting the hypothetical situation of non-existence of the government support. Given our large sample sizes around the cut-off point we can estimate the effect locally and obtain new results on subsidy effectiveness. We do not find any significant impact on employment outcomes. The possibility for firms to reduce wage cost by hiring preferably the long-term unemployed does not affect their exit rates out of unemployment. Furthermore, we find no substantial improvement on employment stability for those individuals due to the subsidy program"
The St. Gallen study, the most recent I could find, had a large sample size and suggests little to no benefit on the long term prospects of the subsidised employee.
I would argue that for people with disability the effect of wage subsidy is worse, creating a culture within the workspace that suggests, in Australian terms, 'nothing for nothing' - if a worker's wages are subsidised (and our funding body has created an environment that positively rewards fully purchased outcomes) then the only reason that makes any real sense is that this is because a person with a disability is inherently worth less.
Could wage subsides do harm?
Wolfensberger argues (above and '2' ) that it possible for well-intentioned big powerful groups to 'wound''smaller groups through deliberate action. Amongst the 21 possible classes of wounds are 'object of pity' and 'burden of charity'. I believe that the heavy promotion of wage subsidy linked to disability both spreads and perpetuates a view that it is only by off-setting the cost of a person's disability that they might become attractive or even acceptable to an employer.
Subsidies are not needed. NOVA's Richmond outlet under the stewardship of Selina Macarthur achieved a 12 month no use of subsidies, no job losses record while meeting every KPI required by both NOVA and our funding body.
Do wage subsidies reflect a world view?
If Australians believe that there is, 'nothing for nothing' then could it be that the persons responsible for program guidelines concerning people with disability also believe that such persons have little or no real worth to employers.
Maybe, but the facts argue differently. Statistically people with disability are as productive or more productive that their non-disabled peers, they take less sick time and are only as likely or even less likely than their non-disabled peers to make Workplace Health & Safety claims.
NOVA employs a large number of people with disability and I can categorically state they are amongst our most productive employees. We don't need a subsidy to appreciate their talent and neither should anyone else - educate on ability and contribution and not at sale or discount prices.
1. Schnemann, B., Lechner, M., & Wunsch, C.: "Do Long-term Unemployed Workers Benefit from Targeted Wage Subsidies?" July 2011 Discussion Paper no. 2011-26 School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen
2. Wolfensberger, W. 1991: 'A brief introduction to Social Role Valorization as a high-order concept for structuring human services'. Training Institute for Human Service Planning, Leadership and Change Agentry (Syracuse University Syracuse, NY:).
Would you like a face-to-face meeting with Martin via Skype? Click the button below to make an appointment
Subscribe to this Blog - blog.novaemployment.com.au Copy the link above and paste it into your favourite Reader to subscribe to an RSS feed of this blog. To watch a short video explanation of RSS and how it helps you save time reading the web click here
Your Comments There are currently no comments on this article
Previous Posts
Whats wrong with Employment Services? There's rumours of a shake-up in the Job Active program - word is, the program isn't making a real difference and employers don't like it!
There's plenty of evidence to suggest that, despite the best intent of Government and funding body, the Disability Employment Service (DES) is similarly in the doldrums....
I need you! Comrades
NOVA needs you - we are very keen to enlist new members of our organisation.
Here's what you need: the patience of Job, the strength of the Hulk, the wisdom of Solomon and a selfless devotion caring for the needs of others worthy of Mother Teresa....
Tragic Loss People with Disability lost a true champion last Wednesday with the unexpected passing of a truly great man, the Chief Executive Officer of Inclusion Australia and a dear friend Mr Paul Cain....
Fair Warning
I'm giving fair warning of my intention to expose examples of the current DES-ESS contract's exploitation.
I have written to the Commonwealth expressing my concerns about clear manipulation of the present contract....
Fundamentals
The new contract for Disability Employment Services (DES) will not bring performance improvement.
Government will scratch it's head, blame the economy, blame people with disability, talk about educating employers and spend money on consultations before coming to the conclusion that people with disability must meet more stringent 'mutual obligations'....
100%
Each year, around about the International Day of People with a Disability (IDPwD) NOVA Employment holds a formal graduation for students that have participated in our pre-employment programs....
Profiting from poverty
Profiting from Poverty
I am genuinely horrified by this disaster: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/02/the-demerit-system-is-ruthless-social-policy-designed-to-keep-the-poor-powerless
I believe that we presently represent the job hopes of around 1500 people, in various stages of their progression to independent employment....
New Contract but no change!
New Contract but no change!
Today marks the first day of a new Disability Employment Service (DES) contract.
There are new players and new rules....
Administrative Overload
'It's nice to be busy' and 'busy is better than idle' and all of my mum's other sayings about work being good for you, and all of them said; we're drowning!
The administrative burden of a new Disability Employment Service contract (starts July 1st) and the mountains of paperwork required for an NDIS dollar (approximately 10X that of the former TTW program) has seen us add 3 extra staff to the admin team and we are still receiving a large volume of enquiries that are causing us some time delay in getting back to folk....
Podcasts I've been learning all about Podcasts (I suspect that this may be a long road!)
However, getting paid to be inspired is not the worst way to spend a Monday afternoon and that is just how my day has gone....
Lucky Lucky
I am truly fortunate to work with the very best people in this great nation and we are truly lucky to be part of the best short film festival this side of anywhere!
"Focusonability" voting starts today and there is an even larger number of films (287) than last year....
On the money Sometime over the next week a new Disability Employment Service contract will be announced.
We are moving into a new world of greater consumer choice and greater mobility of job seekers....
Making a tough job tougher!
Making a tough job tougher
It isnt easy to get a decent job and its harder to do so if you have a disability.
NOVA employs around 190 people, an effective and experienced team who are able to draw upon a staff of highly skilled trainers and a support program honed over almost 30 years and tens of thousands of participants....
Your Work There was never any doubt in my mind that I would work. My dad told me I would work and there wasn't ever a suggestion that my future held an alternative option....
Not so bad! Taken from: Today's Guardian at 4.09pm Tuesday 7th November 2017:
www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/jun/23/russia-and-the-us-have-the-worst-employment-gaps-for-disabled-people
In a world full of discouragement there’s always a space for good news....
Informed Choice
The NDIS mantra is 'choice and control'
To be valuable, choice needs to be informed.
Since 2010:
Average Sydney Disability Employment Services placement rates are 34....
Hard Job
It's voting time at "Focusonability" - with a record number of films entered, a tremendous effort by more than 100 High Schools and 19 countries competing in the International section it was always going to be a hard job to pick a winner....
Choice & Control
The NDIS slogans around choice and control demonstrate the importance of consumer involvement in both the choice and control of supports they need.
However, in order to be valuable, choice needs to be informed by accurate data such is this: http://www....
Belfast
Last week (14-16) it was my privilege to attend the 1st World Supported Employment Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
"Employment for All - A Global Perspective" brought workers from around the globe (primarily Europe) to discuss best practice in supported employment....
Quality and the Stars Quality and the Stars
There have probably been few people more openly critical of the Disability Employment Service (DES) Star Ratings than me.
The Stars, ranging from 1 to 5 are supposed to give some insight into whether a service is a poor or high performing program....
Subscribe to this Blog