The role of basic education and adult literacy With the passage of the Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988, basic education and Adult literacy has been linked to welfare reform. Building on its experimentation with welfare reform during the previous decade, the FSA created the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS). JOBS, which requires states to make educational services available to welfare recipients, was created in response to the general consensus that welfare recipients are not well prepared to enter the workforce (Cohen et al. 1994). One of the key underlying assumptions is that “a solid foundation of literacy and basic skills is critical to the successful transition to employment and self-sufficiency for AFDC parents, particularly young parents” (National Institute for Literacy 1994, p. 2). the education and skill levels of welfare recipients as a group are lower than those of the general adult population. For example, compared to 27% of the general adult population, nearly 50% of welfare recipients do not have a high school diploma (NIFL 1994). Furthermore, 30% of welfare recipients have basic skills below that of the minimum skill level of all women in the lowest professional areas (Cohen et al. 1994). Therefore, for the architects of the FSA, a logical avenue to help welfare recipients achieve economic self-sufficiency was to provide those in need with basic education and adult literacy services through JOBS. The need for such assistance has subsequently been supported: it is estimated that two-thirds of JOBS enrollees require an improvement in basic skills before they can enter the world of work (ibid.). The other third enters the workforce more immediately, in the private sector... middle of paper... elf as we know it?" Summary Briefing Paper. Washington, DC: NIFL, June 1994. (ED 372 279) Pauly, E.; Long, D.A.; Martinson, K. Linking Welfare and Education: A Study of New Programs in Five States: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, May 1992. (ED 346 266). K. "Adult education: a new stimulus from welfare reform 5, n. 2 (November-December 1993): 15-16. Reder, S. and Wikelund, K.R. Steps to success: Literacy development in a welfare-to-work program. Portland, OR: Literacy, Language, and Communication Program, Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, November 1994. Wikelund, K. R. Motivation to Learn: Voices of Participants in Women's Welfare Reform NCAL Report TR93-10 Philadelphia: National Center on Literacy of adults, University of Pennsylvania, October 1993. (ED 364 748).