Public Assistance

Dept: Evidence suggests, for example, that, compared to people with high literacy, people with low levels of literacy are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed, more likely to earn minimal wages, more likely to require public assistance and more likely to have trouble with the law, according to Vancouver Sun. Of course, what it means to be literate today involves more than merely being able to read the newspaper. For just as the advent of books and wide use of the printed word effectively created illiteracy, so new forms of communication expand the opportunities - if you can call them that - for illiteracy and as we have noted in this space many times before, literacy - or more specifically, the lack of literacy - has a profound impact on virtually every aspect of people's lives. Given this disquieting evidence, it's more troubling still to learn that a significant portion of the Canadian public experience problems with literacy. Indeed, according to the 2003 Adult Literacy and Life Skills study, 42 per cent of Canadians have low prose literacy skills and 20 per cent have serious problems with reading and comprehension. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.