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Getting Ahead: A Survey of Low-Wage Workers on Opportunities for Advancement Jobs for the Future (2003)
Summary:
According
to a national survey of low-wage workers, commissioned by Jobs for the
Future, seven in ten workers who earn less than 200 percent of the
federal poverty level want access to education and training programs
that can help them advance to well-paid positions. Nearly one out of
four low-wage workers have paid for instruction out of their own pocket
despite competing financial commitments and family obligations, a
strong indication of the importance they place on advancing their
education. Low-wage workers who have used government-sponsored or other
workforce development programs for job placement, education, and career
training have found them useful. However, the survey results also
suggest a gap in workers’ awareness of the public system and their use
of its services, a gap that better outreach and marketing might narrow.
The study, a national survey of 1,002 adults with household incomes
near the poverty line, was commissioned by Jobs for the Future as part
of the Workforce Innovation Networks (WINs) initiative with funding
from the U.S. Department of Labor.
