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Executive Summary


i. Background

This report presents findings from the formative evaluation of the TAGS/HRDC program. The findings are derived from the following research activities undertaken for the most part in 1995:

  • Surveys:

    • TAGS/HRDC clients 10 percent sample (Surveyed 9/95);

    • TAGS/HRDC clients whose eligibility ended 12/31/94 (surveyed 5/95 & 2/96);

    • Comparison group of HRDC clients (Unemployment Insurance clients) not eligible for TAGS - the "non-participants" (10/95);

  • Analysis of TAGS/HRDC client file data;

  • Focus groups with TAGS/HRDC clients (5/95 & 8/95);

  • Special study on influences of household and gender on adjustment;

More evaluation work will be done this fiscal year in terms of repeating the surveys to further examine program impacts and client adjustment. The findings presented here are, therefore, subject to revision as additional data are generated.

ii. Summary of Principal Findings

  1. Compared to HRDC's general Unemployment Insurance client population, the TAGS client population presents particularly serious, long-term challenges for labour market adjustment due to:

    • relatively lower levels of formal education;

    • relatively older age profile;

    • strong attachment to the fishery and its way of life;

      • a high proportion of clients live in isolated, single industry fishing communities;

    • household and gender factors;

      • spouses with continuing employment in home areas;

      • ties to property, home ownership and investments in fishing enterprises;

      • responsibilities for dependents;

      • traditional gender roles which particularly limit female clients in achieving their positive adjustment goals.

  2. Despite the constraints, there are significant levels of participation by TAGS/HRDC clients, in active adjustment programs and in employment outside the groundfish industry:

    • at this stage there are indications that the TAGS/HRDC program will meet the overall targets for "adjustment out". The success of other types of fisheries is a contributing factor;

    • close to two-fifths of TAGS/HRDC clients found sufficient employment to establish UI claims in 1995. Over half of these work-UI clients worked in the fishery or in short-term or seasonal jobs in their local areas;

    • TAGS/HRDC clients and HRDC staff report that significant numbers of clients are making good progress through upgrading and skills training, but will likely not complete their "adjustment out" by 1999;

    • there are some difficulties in measuring the current "adjusted out" population, given the numbers of TAGS/HRDC clients who are employed in the fishery or in other short-term, low-skill jobs in their home areas;

    • the new regulations for Employment Insurance will mean that fewer TAGS clients will qualify for E.I. in 1996 than qualified for U.I. in 1995. This issue needs further study.

  3. Despite the groundfish shutdown the Atlantic fishery generated record high landed values in 1994, and continued this trend in 1995. Fishers diversified their harvesting operations, and companies processed underutilized species and imported groundfish. As a result:

    • little has changed in the annual work and income patterns of about 10 percent of TAGS clients. Despite the groundfish shutdown, 18 percent of TAGS fishers and 6 percent of plant workers had 1995 incomes from sources other than TAGS benefits that were at least 80 percent of their pre-moratorium (1988 to 1991) incomes;1

    • some plant owners and managers are using a variety of strategies to maintain their labour forces (i.e. discouraging adjustment out) while they seek out alternative raw material supplies for processing.

  4. Offshore groundfish supplies are less available in 1996, and there will be less work in the plants unless other raw materials are found. Crab quotas will likely be reduced in some areas in 1996. The implications are:

    • employment for TAGS/HRDC clients may drop off in 1996, and the draw on TAGS benefits may therefore increase;

    • the proportion of "inactive" TAGS clients may increase in 1996.

  5. Median incomes of TAGS/HRDC clients have changed very little from 1988 to the present. Key issues:

    • limited numbers of crab and/or lobster fishers earn substantial incomes while on TAGS2;

    • about 5 percent of clients worked steadily in 1995 in harvesting or processing and would have experienced little significant change from past income levels had there been no TAGS/HRDC program. Another 5 percent of clients either worked in other areas, or combined fishing and other work, and earned incomes equivalent to their past income levels;

    • in focus groups, some younger plant workers with lower TAGS pay rates and with dependents report serious financial stress while on TAGS.

  6. 17 percent of TAGS/HRDC clients are "inactive", i.e., they are neither employed nor actively participating in adjustment programs. An additional 30 percent have done counselling only. While some are SEC fishers with a place in the fishery of the future, there are many others who should be actively preparing themselves to find employment outside the fishery by the time that TAGS ends.

  7. There are significant variations in levels of adjustment among different CEC regions, and among communities within regions. These differences reflect:

    • differing labour market conditions in local areas;

    • differing levels of community organization and leadership to deal with the crisis in the fishery;

    • differences in community attitudes or culture;

    • differences in CEC adjustment approaches and priorities.

  8. Some sub-groups or "clusters" of TAGS/HRDC clients are over-represented in the "inactive" category. These include:

    • fishers who expect to be in the fishery of the future;

    • older "discouraged clients" who see few options for employment inside or outside the fishery;

    • younger "discouraged clients" with low formal education and with young families, predominantly plant workers.

  9. The client characteristics most positively associated with active adjustment are:

    • younger in age;

    • plant workers;

    • higher levels of formal education;

    • women;

    • expect to be employed outside the fishery after TAGS.

  10. TAGS/HRDC counselling services are perceived positively by TAGS clients, and frequency of counselling contacts is positively associated with adjustment:

    • TAGS/HRDC clients are three times as likely to have talked to a counsellor as members of the non-participant comparison group.

  11. TAGS/HRDC training programs are perceived positively by TAGS clients, and ABE programs in particular are seen as helpful in building self-esteem, overcoming deficits in formal education, and getting clients started on adjustment.

  12. HRDC labour market information services are not perceived as significant interventions by TAGS/HRDC clients, and do not appear to have significant impacts on adjustment behaviour:

    • clients report that informal labour market information processes involving family, friends and community members are much more influential in decisions to move in search of employment.

  13. There are early indications that TAGS/HRDC clients who have not adjusted face serious income losses when they exit TAGS:

    • the median 1995 personal income for TAGS/HRDC clients who exited TAGS at the end of 1994 was $9,000. Over 20 percent of them had household incomes of less that $10,000 in 1995.

  14. HRDC field staff and TAGS/HRDC clients identify uncertainties about the future of TAGS, and expectations of further program cuts and rule changes, as significant sources of stress. They describe this climate of uncertainty as a significant constraint on long-term decision-making about adjustment.

  15. The total budget for TAGS is $1.9 billion. The HRDC portion of this overall budget is approximately $1.7 billion.

Footnotes

1 1995 incomes from regular employment, fishing and Unemployment Insurance benefits are calculated from the TAGS pay file. If clients do not send in cards in a given week, it is assumed that they earned 25 percent more that week than their weekly TAGS benefit rate. This is compared with the mean 1988 to 1991 income for each client based on T1 income tax data. [To Top]
2 1995 incomes from regular employment, fishing and Unemployment Insurance benefits are calculated from the TAGS pay file. If clients do not send in cards in a given week, it is assumed that they earned 25 percent more that week than their weekly TAGS benefit rate. This is compared with the mean 1988 to 1991 income for each client based on T1 income tax data. [To Top]

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Last Modified: 1999-07-16 Important Notices