4.3.4. Major Needs of Women in ARE Programs

Providers were asked to identify the major needs of women in ABE programs. Multiple responses (168) were received. Educational and psychological needs received the highest number of responses, followed by financial needs (see Table 4-4).

Given the economic and psychological dependence of women, it is not surprising that educational and psychological needs are perceived as the most major for them. By placing financial needs below these two, providers have implied that educational and psychological needs are more important than financial needs.

Providers have placed women's needs. for awareness of more choices in their lives ahead of their need for childcare. This perception suggests that providers are concerned mainly with increasing the knowledge base of their students and with improving their competence in managing their lives in society. Providers do not appear as concerned about the personal responsibilities of individuals (such as caring for children in the home). Yet, as shown in Table 4-9, these responsibilities can interfere with women's regular attendance in programs, and hence, with their access to the knowledge provided by the ABE programs.

4.3.5. Barriers to Women's Regular Attendance in ABE Programs

Providers were asked to identify the factors which were moat often responsible for women not being able to attend the programs on a regular basis. Multiple responses (161) were given. The greatest number of responses referred to lack of childcare arrangements as the major factor (see Table 4-10). This is surprising given the fact that only 5 percent of the responses about the needs of women reported childcare arrangements as the major need of women in ABE programs. Only 2 out of 73 respondents said that there were no women in the programs with children under 12 years old; while 39 (53.4 percent) identified one to ten such women in each program as having children under age 12, and 32 (43.8 percent) identified 11 or more such women in each program (see Table 4-11)