Findings from the Field:

Early Findings of the New Jersey Online Learning Project for Single Working-Poor Mothers

A Report of the

Rutgers University Center for Women and Work

December 2003

Prepared By

Dr. Mary Gatta

Director of Research and Analysis

Overview

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, awarded the New Jersey Department of Labor a grant of $500,000 to pilot a project to determine whether online learning, which had proved effective in increasing the skills of college-educated workers, could prove equally effective in improving the skills and earnings of low-wage workers. Slightly more than 100 working single mothers, all of whom earned less than 250 percent of the poverty level, were accepted into the pilot program and received computers, Internet access and online courses to improve their skills. The main findings are summarized in the conclusion of the report.

While the demonstration project does not officially end until December 31, 2003, our research to date indicates that online learning is successful in increasing the skills of participants and is cost-effective relative to onsite training. This report will detail some of these preliminary findings, and elucidate how online learning nationally can target a large population of workers, many of whom often are excluded from traditional modes of training and education, to increase their skills attainment.

The Skills Training Crisis for Two-Fifths of American Workers

Imagine you are a high school educated single mother with two children under the age of ten. You are working two jobs- 3 days you are a part-time bookkeeper at your local church, and your weekends are spent waitressing at the diner by your apartment. You earn about $15,000 a year, and are literally living paycheck to paycheck. A few slow shifts at the diner in a week and you are unable to pay all your bills this month. You know you need skills training in order to get a higher paying job, but you do not know when you will fit classes into your day or how you will pay for them. Yet time binds and financial cost are only some of the barriers that you face in trying to attain workplace skills. Locating affordable and “off hours” childcare (such as on nights and weekends when many classes are offered) often proves to be a daunting and expensive task. In addition, you may be among the one-third of families earning $15,000 or less who do not own a car, making the act of just getting to class a challenge. What are you to do?

This woman’s experience is played out day after day throughout the United States, as low wage workers attempt to find ways to balance work, family and skills training in order to improve their lives. Indeed, a considerable number of workers work full-time and still do not earn enough money to attain economic self sufficiency. About two-fifths of all households, and well over half of Black and Hispanic households, have family incomes that are below 250% of the poverty line ($43,700). These households are about evenly split between low income (< $25,000 a year) and lower middle class (> $25,000 and < $43,700) families. This growing demographic group, often referred to as the working poor, remains stuck in low wage work that does not economically provide for themselves and their families.

Much evidence has demonstrated that a major factor in explaining these low incomes is low skill attainment. A large number of workers simply do not possess the high level skills demanded of the current workforce, and without access to skills training opportunities will continue to be left behind. Labor market trends indicate that there will be significant growth in jobs that require competent or advanced skills, while much slower growth in jobs that require basic or minimal skills throughout the early part of the 21^st Century.[1] Further these high level skill demands are required in all industries, including industries that are not typically associated with high level skill demands. For example, 59.4 percent of sales related jobs in the service sector require skills beyond those of a high school graduate.[2] Partly as a result of these changing skill demands[3] across industries, high school educated workers have seen their incomes drop 27 percent over the past three decades[4]. Indeed, high school educated and below workers are a very large fraction of our workforce. In 2002, 40 percent of all workers – 42 percent of employed men and 38 percent of employed women – had a high school degree or less. In absolute numbers this equates to 46 million workers (26 million men and 20 million women)[5] who are experiencing decreased labor market returns to their skills.

While the American working poor earn less and have fewer years of education than workers at higher rungs in society, there is much agreement that any movement up the socio-economic ladder is dependent on education and training. In fact, in order to achieve economic success in the 21^st Century, it is clear that one must broadly define education and training to include not just completing a high school diploma or a community college degree, but also mastering additional training and certifications in technical areas, information technology and/or soft skills.

However, while few doubt that education and skills training have positive effects on labor market rewards and economic self sufficiency, the real challenge for low wage workers is attaining that education and training. The working poor face a set of barriers that makes the traditional ways of delivering skills training difficult, if not impossible. Foremost, childcare needs place a burden on many individuals in this population that often prevents them from attending traditional education programs. Locating affordable childcare and “off hours” childcare (such as on nights and weekends when many classes are offered) often proves to be a daunting task. In addition, a large percentage of non-college educated workers are located in jobs with irregular schedules, such as those characteristic of the service sector, making it difficult to attend classes that are inflexible in their scheduling. In addition to childcare needs and irregular schedules, transportation also proves to be a significant barrier, making the act of just getting to classes a challenge. Nationally, one-third of households earning less than $15,000 a year do not own a car (Stovern, 2002 as quoted in Van Horn and Schaffner, 2003). This is especially relevant in suburban and rural areas where typically there are not extensive public transportation systems. Furthermore, non-college educated workers often find very little access to employer-sponsored training. Lisa Lynch and Sandra Black (1995) found that employers’ investment decisions in regard to employee training are influenced by the characteristics of the workers that they employ. Overall, they found that employees who are perceived as having a high turnover rate and/or possess lower levels of formal education are less likely to receive employer provided training.[6] As a result of these barriers workers either forego training opportunities, or spend years attempting to complete credentials or degrees by taking one to two classes every few months. The relevant question then is not whether skills training is needed, but what is the best way to deliver that training to the working poor.

Why Online Training?

An innovative approach to addressing the barriers of attaining skills training is to provide the training via online learning. Online learning provides significant advantages to both the participants in the skills training program and their families that are not available in traditional settings. First, online learning offers flexibility in time and place. Participants can learn at their own pace, in their homes (or virtually anywhere), and attend classes when they can fit them into their schedules-taking classes at any hour or any day of the week. Further, online learning is cost effective, as participants save money and time in childcare and commuting when they receive skills training via technology in their homes.

While online learning may not be appropriate for everyone---it places a premium on discipline and self motivation---it has many advantages. In addition to flexibility in time and space, skills training online offers opportunities for literacy that reach beyond course content. Students are increasing their skills using the very tool – the computer- that is markedly affecting the type of skills that are demanded in our laborforce. Through online learning participants also increase their facility with computers and the Internet, learn how to troubleshoot technology, and improve their typing skills. By bringing the computer into the home, these benefits extend beyond the workers themselves and also help to also increase family literacy. While access to computers and the Internet has increased over the past years, research continues to demonstrate that disparities across social class and educational level persist. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2000) households with incomes of $75,000 or more are twenty times more likely to have access to the Internet than families with less income. Further, while 63 percent of our nation’s classrooms are wired for Internet access, the digital divide continues to exist. In schools where 71 percent or more of children are eligible for free or reduced price lunches, only 39 percent of classrooms are wired. Alternatively, in schools where less than eleven percent of students qualify for subsidized lunches, 74 percent of classrooms are Internet ready. As such, providing a computer in the home provides opportunities for children to increase their literacy.

The New Jersey Online Learning Pilot Project

The New Jersey project was piloted in five Workforce Investment Board (WIB) areas—Bergen, Cumberland, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Morris/Sussex/Warren. While each WIB area centralized the project though a local One Stop Career Center, each program was designed and implemented differently, allowing us to evaluate both the effectiveness of online learning as a skills delivery mechanism, and features of the program that would best help participants successfully attain skills training.

As noted earlier, all participants in the New Jersey pilot project are single mothers. This demographic group was chosen quite purposively. First, single mothers comprise a growing portion of our laborforce and increasingly find themselves among the ranks of the working poor. In 2001, never married, divorced, separated, and widowed women with children under eighteen years old earned on average significantly less than married women with children under eighteen (median weekly earnings of $430 and $524, respectively) (US DOL, 2002, Report 960). Single mothers with children under six years old fared the worst, earning a median weekly income of only $379. As a result, families maintained by women with children under eighteen years old have the highest probability of living in poverty – a rate of 21.9. This is more than double the rate of families maintained by men with children under eighteen years old (rate of 10.1) and four times greater than the rate of married couple families with children (rate of 4.9) (US DOL, 2002, Report 957). Second, single working poor mothers may be amongst the “busiest” people in the United States. In fact, they seem to experience all the major challenges---childcare, irregular work schedules, time binds, and transportation--- that make skills training via traditional venues difficult. Quite frankly, if online learning is effective for this group of workers, it is very probable that it would also be effective for other similar demographic groups. The following sections of this report highlight some of our early findings.

A Composite of the Participants

Socioeconomic Characteristics. The 128 women in the New Jersey pilot program represent a diverse population of working poor single mothers. Table 1 details some of the main characteristics of this sample. The average age of the women is 32 years old; with the youngest women aged 20 years old, and the oldest women aged 54. Our sample also represents diversity in regard to race/ethnicity. Fifty-six women are Black, 24 are Hispanic, 47 are White and one is Native American. In regard to educational attainment, the majority of women (68) are high school graduates or have earned a GED. Seven women did not graduate high school; 18 women hold associates degrees; 24 women attended college; six women have a college degree; 15 women have some type of technical certification; and two women have graduate degrees from universities outside of the United States. While all women in the pilot program have incomes of 250 percent or less of the poverty line, the average annual income of the women is $16,900; with the highest income in our sample of $43,000, and the lowest income of $5,700.

Table 1
Demographic Breakdown
County	Bergen	Cumberland	Middlesex	Monmouth	Morris	All Counties
Participants	21	23	17	39	28	128
Age
Low Age	20	22	22	21	48	20
High Age	54	49	46	50	20	54
Average Age	36	33	34	29	26	32
Ethnicity
African American	12	7	9	24	18	56
Hispanic	4	9	3	4	6	24
White	5	7	5	10	4	47
Asian	0	0	0	0	0	0
Native American	0	0	0	1	0	1
Highest Degree
Less than High School	1	0	0	6	0	7
High School	13	15	8	14	18	68
Associate			1	10	7	18
Some college	5	6	2	7	4	24
Bachelor	0	0	3	0	3	6
Technical* some women reported in both HS and technical categories	1	2	2	6	4	15
Graduate	1	0	1	0	0	2
Marital Status
Single	15	13	10	32	14	84
Divorced	3	5	5	5	7	25
Separated	3	5	2	2	7	19
Personal Characteristics
Disabled (either physical or learning)	1	2	1	1	2	7
English as a Second Language	4	0	4	2	9	19
Average Number of Children	2	2