📝 Module 7 Section 2 - Exercise 25

It is suggested that in times of hardship in farming areas, when there is the threat or actuality of banks foreclosing on mortgages, inadequate literacy skills add to the normal stresses. Farmers and others with inadequate literacy skills affected by a rural downturn have fewer alternatives for employment, less flexibility, perhaps fewer support mechanisms, and therefore more strains both personally and with a spouse or partner. It is not inconceivable that the additional stress contributes to marriage breakdown or suicide. Problems can become acute in regional towns or areas which are based on one or two major industries. A proportion of manual and construction workers and trade assistants in such towns have low levels of literacy, but are able to find employment so long as new projects and development continue. Shift work and relatively high wages make such work relatively attractive. Once the development is completed, however, there are few alternative options. In some small communities, there is a tendency for the problem of poor literacy skills to be continued with the next generation, thereby repeating the problem. Economic hardship, the need for children to travel (or be driven) long distances to school, and the low value placed on literacy may mean that helping with farm work is seen as more important than regular attendance at school.