While in prison, convicts typically work but the costs of their incarceration are set against their earnings, such that the amount they make is trivial, basically equivalent to pocket money for a child. Now while I don't think anyone should expect to go to prison for financial gain, society has an interest in motivating a convicted criminal to act within the law after their release. For petty and less serious crimes, providing some sort of economic incentive and organizational assistance following release from prison is probably more likely to reduce recidivism.
I mean, in prison you have a roof over your head and a few meals every day - your physical basic survival is assured. In the case described in the sermon, a newly-released prisoner is then put into a position of trying to reintegrate into society with the equivalent of about 2 days' pay at minimum wage, which is not at all adequate to ensure basic physical survival, especially in winter. No matter how sincere a prisoner's remorse and intention of reform, putting them into a drastically worse economic situation immediately after release massively increases the temptation to crime - either for its immediate gain, or as a deliberate strategy to get sent back to prison and the surety of a bed/ roof/ meal.