While low literacy has been shown to be a major impediment to employment, it is not the only factor. The nature of the labour market itself – with its shortage of what some people have come to call "real jobs" – has created new challenges for adults with limited education and other barriers. According to Globe and Mail columnist, Bruce Little,

Canada's job market is less able now than it was a decade ago to offer economic security to people in low-income families, many of whom already work. The reasons are familiar - too few jobs and low wages in many of the jobs the poor hold. ("Prospects for the Poor Get Poorer", Globe & Mail, Toronto, March 24, 1997)

The shift to global economics has created an increasingly polarized labour market between jobs that are highly-skilled, secure, and well-paid, on the one hand, and those that are low-skilled, low wage and part-time on the other. Certain populations are most vulnerable to the current labour situation: single parents (mostly women), persons with disabilities, older workers, Aboriginal people, youth, and undereducated workers.

Students and instructors in the LWW Study were well aware of these rapidly- changing labour market conditions, and of the need to up-grade their skills and education if they were to compete for employment. However, they voiced concern about a shortage of work, particularly in rural and northern communities, and about the proliferation of minimum wage, entry level jobs. These tight labour conditions have also led to artificial inflation of both the academic credentials and prior work experience necessary for employment. Jobs that used to be filled by lower-educated people are now being snatched up by those with high school diplomas or higher.

We have university graduates in our town who cannot get work. My students aren't going to get a job ahead of them. It's just not going to happen.

I have skilled people coming to my literacy class taking computers because they don't have a job. The possibility of them getting a job is so slim because there's so much competition out there.

Most of the jobs available to lower educated people are entry level positions. These jobs tend to offer little security or benefits and part-time hours at minimum wage. At just $6 an hour, a person working full time at minimum wage in Manitoba earns approximately $12,000 a year, putting them well below the poverty line. 62% of minimum wage earners in the province are women, making it an issue that disproportionately affects women and children, contributing both to the "feminization of poverty" and the province's high child poverty rates (Black: 1998).