Apprenticeship / Dropout / Completion / Australia : The impact of wages and of the likelihood of employment

“Low completion rates of apprenticeships and traineeships have been of concern for many years.” writes Tom Karmel and Peter Mlotkowski in The impact of wages and the likelihood of employment on the probability of completing an apprenticeship or traineeship on ncver.edu.au. In a previous study “Karmel and Mlotkowski examined the impact of wages on the probability of completion.” In this new study, the add the effect of “the likelihood of finding employment after completing” on “quitting the apprenticeship or traineeship”.

Key results (excerpts by Job market Monitor)

1. For trade apprentices, the premium attached to becoming a tradesperson is a significant factor to completion, not the training wage. This confirms the earlier finding.
2. By contrast, in the non-trades the training wage matters more. For both male and female trainees, completion rates decrease with increases in the difference between wages in alternative employment and training wages.
3. Typically, the probability of employment on completion of an apprenticeship or traineeship exceeds that of the apprentice or trainee who drops out. For trades and females in non-trade occupations this difference significantly affects completion rates.
4. The economic downturn significantly increased the attractiveness of undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship. Alternative employment became less attractive compared with being an apprentice or a trainee, and in general the pay-off to completion increased.

Full report @ :