learn$ave Project: Final ReportAs for funding sources for the education <strong>and</strong> trainingcosts, the only impact to emerge was a positive impactof the services on education loans for courses ($94). Theadditional services might have encouraged participants toborrow for their courses, but, other than that, learn$avedid not induce participants much to pursue alternativesources of education funding in the form of student debtor grants.The results also indicate that learn$ave (credits <strong>and</strong>services combined) increased the average total time spentby participants in education programs by 159 hours<strong>and</strong> in courses by 52 hours. The 159 hours translatesinto about 10 weeks of a university semester or about 6weeks of a college semester including in-class labs. Onceagain, the impact was driven mainly by the matchedcredits (130 <strong>and</strong> 61 hours for programs <strong>and</strong> courses,respectively). Note that there is real potential to recordgreater intensity impacts in the future, as only about 45per cent of program group participants had completedtheir programs or courses at the time of the survey (recallTable 7.2).Table 7.4 Impacts on Education, Funding <strong>and</strong> Training Costs <strong>and</strong> Intensity (Average), during the 54 Months, Education Stream Participants –AdjustedControlGroup MeanImpact ofMatched SavingCreditsImpact ofServices whenOffered withCredits ∑Combined Impactof Credits +ServicesEducational Expenditures (average $)Tuition FeesPrograms 3,038 1,191*** 778** 1,968***Courses 781 270** -10 260**Programs <strong>and</strong> courses 3,821 1,426*** 795** 2,222***Book PurchasesPrograms 604 33 141** 173***Courses 57 81*** -10 71***Programs <strong>and</strong> courses 661 113 131** 244***Total Educational Expenditures (Tuition <strong>and</strong> Books)Programs 3,642 1,223*** 918** 2,142***Courses 838 351*** -21 330**Programs <strong>and</strong> courses 4,482 1,539*** 926** 2,465***Education Funding (average $)Grants for Programs <strong>and</strong> Courses 1,248 -46 -4 -50Education LoansPrograms 3,905 -142 417 275Courses 36 -16 94* 78Programs <strong>and</strong> courses 3,941 -158 511 353Educational Intensity (average hours)Programs 606 130** 29 159***Courses 148 61** -9 52*Programs <strong>and</strong> courses 755 192*** 20 211***Source: Calculations from 18-month, 40-month <strong>and</strong> 54-month survey data.Note: The sample sizes for the control, learn$ave-only <strong>and</strong> learn$ave-plus groups are 568, 842 <strong>and</strong> 859, respectively. Sample sizes vary forindividual measures because of missing values.Two-tailed t-tests were applied to impacts estimated by regression-adjusted differences in outcomes between research (program <strong>and</strong> control)groups.Statistical significance levels are indicated as * = 10 per cent; ** = 5 per cent; *** = 1 per cent.Rounding may cause slight discrepancies in sums <strong>and</strong> differences.∑The figures in this column show the extra impact of the financial management training <strong>and</strong> enhanced case management services whengiven to those eligible to receive matched credits. It does not represent the impact of those services alone for those not eligible to receive thematched saving credit; it represents the impact of the services when provided with the credits.86 | Chapter 7 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Research</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Demonstration</strong> <strong>Corp</strong>oration
learn$ave Project: Final ReportLabour market outcomesOver the longer-term, learn$ave was expected to lead toincreases in education <strong>and</strong> formal skills that could generatea return through higher earnings in the labour market.It was posited that higher savings would enable greaterparticipation in education which would eventually leadto a better job <strong>and</strong> better earnings. However, few if anylabour market impacts could be expected to be observedwithin the 54-month period. As already noted, only 45per cent had completed a course or program betweenthe time they enrolled in the project <strong>and</strong> the 54-monthsurvey <strong>and</strong>, even for those, it is unlikely there would besufficient time for them to change jobs <strong>and</strong>/or realize anywage gains. In fact there was a real possibility of seeingemployment decline overall as participants may have hadto reduce their work time to go to school.The results confirm that, up to month 54, learn$ave hadnot had an impact on the current labour force status ofparticipants in the education stream (Table 7.5). None ofthe differences between the research groups are statisticallysignificant. About 83 per cent of participants in allthree groups were employed or self-employed at the timeof the 54-month survey interview, earned about $2,800per month <strong>and</strong> worked about 38 hours a week. TheTable 7.5employment <strong>and</strong> earnings gains that might eventually berealized following increases in education participationcannot be observed in the project period.Finally, results from a new question added to the54-month survey suggest that learn$ave positivelyaffected the proportion of people who felt positive aboutthe future labour market impacts of their investment ineducation. The matched credits, alone <strong>and</strong> in combinationwith the additional services, had a positive impact onthe proportion of people who strongly agree with thestatement that “the education or training they took sincetheir first learn$ave interview helped to improve theircareer opportunities,” by 16.1 <strong>and</strong> 14.1 percentage points,respectively (not shown). To the degree that respondentsare able to accurately assess their own future employmentprospects, learn$ave may have increased thelikelihood that participants will enjoy a better job <strong>and</strong>higher earnings in the future.Micro-enterprise stream resultsOutside of the education stream, roughly 1 in 5 participantsbelonged to the micro-enterprise stream <strong>and</strong>planned to use their savings <strong>and</strong> credits toward the startupof a new micro-enterprise. 4 In addition to showingImpacts on Labour Force Outcomes (Percentage Points or Average), at 54 Months, Education Stream Participants – AdjustedControl GroupMean or IncidenceImpact of MatchedSaving CreditsImpact of Serviceswhen Offered withServices ∑Combined Impact ofCredits + ServicesCurrent Labour Force Status (%)Working for pay 77.1 -0.9 0.9 0.0Self-employed 6.5 -1.2 1.0 -0.2Unemployed 9.8 0.6 -2.0 -1.4Not in the labour force 6.6 1.6 0.1 1.6Working for pay or Self-employed 83.6 -2.2 1.9 -0.3Not working 16.4 2.2 -1.9 0.3Earnings <strong>and</strong> Hours of work(in the last four weeks)Total earnings ($) 2,798 -36 -52 -89Average weekly hours worked 38 -1 1 0Source: Calculations from 18-month, 40-month <strong>and</strong> 54-month survey data.Note: The sample sizes for the control, learn$ave-only <strong>and</strong> learn$ave-plus groups are 568, 842 <strong>and</strong> 859, respectively, for the 54-month surveySample sizes vary for individual measures because of missing values.Two-tailed t-tests were applied to impacts estimated by regression-adjusted differences in outcomes between research (program <strong>and</strong> control)groups.Statistical significance levels are indicated as * = 10 per cent; ** = 5 per cent; *** = 1 per cent.Rounding may cause slight discrepancies in sums <strong>and</strong> differences.∑The figures in this column show the extra impact of the financial management training <strong>and</strong> enhanced case management services whengiven to those eligible to receive matched credits. It does not represent the impact of those services alone for those not eligible to receive thematched saving credit; it represents the impact of the services when provided with the credits.4 Note that these estimates are less accurate since the sample size for this stream is fairly small(about 20 per cent of survey respondents). The results should be treated with some caution.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Research</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Demonstration</strong> <strong>Corp</strong>oration Chapter 7 | 87
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