A new study by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute concludes that the state of Georgia could improve its economic prospects by doing more to educate adults who lack high school diplomas and provide more affordable access to higher education for low-income working adults.

The study,“Strengthening the Foundation: Investments in the Adult Workforce Build a More Prosperous Georgia,” assesses a range of state policies and programs designed to help low-income working families succeed in the labor market and achieve economic security.

The study finds that nearly one in three working families (323,840) are low-income, meaning they earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold. In 57 percent of these low-income working families, neither parent has any post-secondary education, which limits their ability to move into well-paying, family-supporting jobs.

However, the study finds that Georgia’s spending on adult basic education and literacy programs is far from adequate. Georgia allocates $13.16 for each adult in the state who lacks a high school diploma for such programs, compared to the national average of $63.41 per adult without a high school diploma.

“These hardworking families are a critical part of Georgia’s workforce – the foundation of our economic success – and they represent the future of Georgia’s economic development,” said Sarah Beth Gehl, Deputy Director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. “By increasing the skill and education level of adult workers who head low-income working families, Georgia can offer a competitive workforce and advance economic opportunities for these families.”

Ron Jackson, the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education, stated, “the findings of the report speak volumes about the state of Georgia’s literacy and education needs. The report can serve as a policy and budgeting roadmap for adult literacy and education programs in Georgia.”

Key findings of the report include:

• Georgians with a bachelor’s degree or higher earn almost two and a half times the median hourly wages of Georgians who lack a high school diploma or equivalent.
• More than 900,000 adults aged 18 to 64 lack a high school diploma or equivalent.
• Georgia essentially has no need-based financial aid for post-secondary two-year and four-year degree programs.
• Georgia’s investment in post-secondary education has experienced double-digit declines, after adjusting for inflation, in recent years.
• Of the $370 million spent on economic development tax credits from 1999 to 2003, only one quarter of that amount was directed to workforce training efforts by businesses.
• In May 2007, 16,724 eligible families were on a waiting list for child care assistance.

The report recommends that the state of Georgia:

• Increase spending on adult basic education and post-secondary education.
• Create need-based financial aid programs to assist low-income adults in paying for post-secondary degree programs.
• Develop an outreach campaign targeted toward non-traditional students.
• Enact a tax expenditure report to track tax credits and exemptions.
• Shift a portion of the state’s economic development investments from job tax credits to training tax credits and direct training efforts.
• Appropriate sufficient funds to eliminate the child care subsidy waiting list and raise the eligibility requirements closer to federal requirements.

“Georgia is woefully behind the times when it comes to adult education,” Gehl said. “It’s absolutely an imperative for the state to do more to increase adult literacy if we are going to succeed in moving working families from poverty to prosperity.”

A copy of the report is available on GBPI’s website, www.gbpi.org.

ABOUT GBPI
The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) is the state’s leading independent, nonprofit, non-partisan organization engaged in research and education on the fiscal and economic health of the state of Georgia. The Institute provides reliable and timely analyses of Georgia’s budget and tax policies and promotes greater state government fiscal accountability, improved services and an enhanced quality of life for all Georgians.