To persuade policy makers to tackle poverty prevention through significant investment in literacy development, the authors, Murray and Shillington, analyzed the most recent data to illustrate the impact of literacy skills on a micro-, as well as macro-economic level. Statistics clearly show direct links between literacy skill and income level: literacy influences the ability to get a job, job retention and promotion, risk of job loss, length of time of unemployment, and, most importantly, rate of pay. In addition low literacy has been shown to impair individuals' health, access to adult education and training and access to full participation in broader society--all factors that further impair the labour market success of Canada's poor. Since poverty in Canada is the result of people failing to find and keep good paying jobs, it raises the question of how investments in literacy might serve to reduce poverty. [For the full report, "From Poverty to Prosperity: Literacy's Impact on Canada's Economic Success. In Focus: Labour Market Engagement," see ED565183.]