Both Tom and Martha would prefer to work full–time, but they too are in a position in which full–time employment could jeopardize their ability to support themselves. Tom continues to live with his family, and can depend on them for support, but Martha lives on her own. If she found full–time work, she would see decreases in her disability pension, which could be withdrawn if she continued to work. Then, if she lost her job, she would have to reapply for a disability pension, a cumbersome bureaucratic process that could take time and leave her without any income. Employment income could also jeopardize the support of a social worker that Martha is eligible to receive as long as she receives disability payments.

Each of the students will have to weigh any potential employment income with the value of the social assistance benefits that they receive. Carrie, one of the program's instructors, explained her role in this area, "We can't have them trade a dollar for four quarters and think they are further ahead." The students will have to carefully calculate the value of the benefits they receive and how much they would have to earn in order to maintain what little they do have. Carrie emphasized the importance of ensuring students didn't get into situations in which they jeopardized the well–being of themselves and their families. "The ideal situation," she said, "is to help the students find part–time employment so they can maintain their benefits and supplement their income." The socioeconomic conditions highlighted in the profiles will be discussed in relation to the program findings in greater detail in the next chapter.

From Academic Upgrading to Employment Preparation

It was students like Nadine, Stacey and Rouda that the employment preparation program wanted to focus on when it was first developed. They, and many other students with similar educational and employment experiences, had been in the general literacy program year after year with little progress in literacy skills. For students whose first language was not English and/or whose formal education level was less than Grade 8, progress in English literacy skills seemed to stall at the LBS 2 level (equivalent to approximately a Grade 2–4 reading and writing level). With such low literacy skills, they were not able to access many existing job training programs and would most likely never gain a level of literacy that was high enough to enter adult high school credit programs.