Graduates and Active Labour Market Programmes: Evidence of Deactivation

This paper explores the experiences of graduates who participated in a range of Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs) in Ireland. The paper uses narrative structuring to provide an enhanced understanding of the graduates' experiences. A review of the literature indicates that most empirical studies of the effects of ALMPs are quantitative. Typically, the studies evaluate whether participation in a programme increases the individual probability of leaving unemployment. This paper argues that other, softer outcomes must also be studied if the impact of ALMPs is to be properly understood. The author therefore adopts a qualitative approach to examine the impact of ALMPs on graduates. The data collected during in-depth interviews indicate a mixed picture. While graduates found their experiences during the ALMPs positive in the main, the impact on their outlook and job prospects is not encouraging. Too often, the graduates express a view that the ALMPs are a ‘short-term fix’, offering little prospect of secure employment. The paper identifies the potential problem of deactivation in addition to the problems of deadweight loss, substitution and displacement reported by Fraser (1999).