Government Training & Jobs Programs

Important Information About Using Government Training and Jobs Programs Data:

  • The sources of Federal funding and types of service providers reported by participants did not always keep pace with legislative reality. Participation in defunct Federal programs was reported as late as 1985 for MDTA and 1986 for CETA.  Although JTPA funding of local programs occurred as early as 1983-84, JTPA as a category in the government-sponsor questions is presumably included under 'Other' and appears as a coding category within the 'Part of CETA/JTPA or WIN' questions beginning in 1986.  Finally, although Federally funded, these jobs programs were locally operated under a variety of names; appropriate Federal funding sources may or may not have been known to the recipient.

  • The wording of questions on job placement within the Employer Supplements and the "Government Training" sections of the questionnaires changed beginning with the 1984 survey.  Prior to 1984, a question on whether the government training program in which the respondent had participated had placed the respondent in a job "outside" the program was followed by a question on whether that outside job placement had occurred to a CETA or PSE (Public Service Employment) job and, if so, whether that subsidized job had been followed by another (presumably) unsubsidized job placement.  Beginning with the 1984 survey and the enactment of JTPA, this rather complex series of questions was dropped and only two questions were asked:
    • whether respondents had been placed, as part of their training, in a subsidized on-the-job training (OJT) or work experience slot and
    • whether respondents had been placed in a job by the program after completion of training. 

 

Data collected:

"On Jobs" section:

 

 

 

 

Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts

For NLSY79 young adults, government sponsorship of a training program is incorporated within the regularly asked "Other Training" questions.  Beginning in 2000, detailed information was asked only of the current or most recent training program. 

In each round of the NLSY97, respondents were asked about whether they participated in government training programs.  Additional questions asked for specific programs and their duration. 

  Consult the BLS website at www.bls.gov/nls or each cohort's User's Guide for exact survey years and the types of information available.

Survey Instruments and Documentation:

Both the main questionnaires and Employer Supplements (ES) are sources for the government jobs and training variables.  The 1979 employer supplement series of questions was incorporated within the main questionnaire as Section 10 "On Jobs" for the 1979 survey year only.  Relevant sections of the other questionnaires are as follows:

  • Government Training:  Section 13 (1979); Section 10 (1980); Section 9 (1981 and 1982); and Section 8 (1983-87).
  • Government Jobs:  Sections 9 and 10 (1979); Section 8/ES (1980); Section 7/ES (1981 and 1982); Section 6/ES (1983-87).
  • Post-1987 Training:  Section 8 (1988-2008).

Questions of related interest on nongovernment training can be found in the "Other Training" sections of the 1979-87 questionnaires.  The 1979 Employer Flap and the 1980-87 Employer Supplements identify the nature of government-sponsored jobs and contain detailed information on each job.

The "NLSY79 Glossary of Terms" (Appendix E of this guide) provides descriptions of some of the locally operated programs and the three Federal legislative acts authorizing employment and training funding which were in place during 1979-87. 

 

Areas of Interest: