NCJ Number
94970
Date Published
1984
Length
281 pages
Annotation
This report on the longer range impact of the Youth Incentive Entitlement Program Pilot (YIEPP) projects focused on the postprogram fall 1981 period when no youths could hold YIEPP jobs. It found that the YIEPP experience led to substantial earning gains among youth in YIEPP sites compared to eligible youths not offered the program.
Abstract
YIEPP, which operated between early 1978 through August 1980, guaranteed school years and full-time during the summer, provided they maintained satisfactory progress toward a high school diploma. Previous evaluations demonstrated that the program was successful in reducing the immediate short-term problem of high youth unemployment, particularly for black youths. The high level of the program's attraction for black youth led to the conclusion that the prevailing low employment rate among minority youths is not voluntary. YIEPP did not produce any schooling gains, but neither did it tend to draw students away from school as some other youth employment strategies might do. This postprogram analysis focused on the 15 to 16-year-old cohort, which was predominantly black. During-program effects for the school year were almost $11.00 per week per program-eligible youth for the 3 years of program operations, and the earnings effect for the postprogram followup period was $10.48 per week, translating into between $500 and $550 a year per program-eligible youth. Examination of earning effects during the period in which YIEPP was phasing down revealed similar trends. These positive earning effects were primarily attributable to employment increases, with hours and wage rate increases contributing small but still positive effects. Blacks, both male and female, had positive perceptions of the YIEPP. The report describes the program, the evaluation design, and labor market impacts in detail, as well as the evaluation findings' policy implications. Tables, footnotes, and approximately 50 references are provided.