BASIC SKILLS AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
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Many European countries are becoming more aware of the importance of basic skills in ensuring both economic and social prosperity. For example, the recent International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) has argued forcefully that basic skills are not only essential for work. Beyond that they are life skills enabling social, cultural and political participation1. This relationship is also at the centre of the European vision of education. As Edith Cresson has stated, “ the primary aim of education is the development of human potential, of the whole person, enabling all citizens to participate as fully as possible in cultural, economic, political and social life”2. This paper will outline some of the existing research into links between poor basic skills and indicators of social exclusion. This will focus on the English experience, and will include the impact of poor basic skills on life chances in relation to the labour market, personal income, social benefits, family life, health, housing, crime and community and political participation. Throughout, basic skills are defined as “the ability to read, write and speak in English and use mathematics at a level necessary to function at work and in society in general”. The paper will also provide examples of some innovative basic skills programmes that have been developed to tackle social exclusion by improving basic skills. Exclusion in the Labour Market
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Poor basic skills are strongly associated with economic life chances and well-being. At one extreme, adults with poor basic skills are far more likely to be excluded from participation in the labour market altogether. For example, research based on a cohort of adults born in 19583 has found that: women with very low literacy or very low numeracy were at least three times as likely to have never held a full-time job between age 23 and 33 as women with good skills; 5 times as many men with very low literacy or numeracy had not held a full-time job between 23 and 33 as men who had good skills; by age 37, men in the very low skills groups were six times as likely to be out of work as those with good skills.
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It is likely that adults with poor basic skills will experience increased difficulty in accessing the labour market in the future. Skills levels are clearly linked to occupations and industries, and those with poor skills are most likely to belong to the semi-skilled and unskilled manual social groups. There is evidence of a weakening in the supply of low-skill jobs in the European Union. International trade, technological change and structural adjustment have, and continue to, reduce the number of low skilled jobs.
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For example, from the British perspective, the industries that have seen the greatest increase in the number of employees over recent years, such as the financial, computing and research sectors have employees with high average literacy scores. Employees in industries that have seen the greatest decline in employment, such as agriculture, mining or construction, have lower average literacy scores than employees in most other sectors. Of course, many adults with poor basic skills are employed. The IALS survey has suggested that in Britain half of the adults in the lowest literacy category were employed. However, these adults may also be marginalised within the labour market. For example, research suggests that men and women with poor basic skills are far less likely to receive work-related training from an employer4. For those who had ever been employed between the ages of 23 and 33, 66% of men with very low literacy and 59% of men with very low numeracy had not received any work related training from an employer. This was in sharp contrast to the 36% of men with good literacy and the 31% with good numeracy who had not received training. For women with poor basic skills who had ever worked, the situation was even worse. Three quarters of women with either very low literacy (78%) or very low numeracy (75%) had never received any training from an employer. Women with good numeracy were most likely to have had training – 65% had received it. It may be that adults with poor basic skills do not take part in training and education opportunities as frequently as those with higher skills because they avoid situations where their poor skills may be exposed, or it may be that employers do not offer training opportunities to those with low skills. Whatever the reason, the low participation rate of those with poor basic skills, whether through self exclusion or through lack of opportunity, is likely to further polarise the distribution of skills. Income and Social Benefits
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Basic skills play an important role in the determination of wages, over and above the effect of education and earnings. The percentage of people with relatively high incomes mounts with increasing levels of proficiency, whilst a considerable loss in earnings is associated with a lack of basic skills among the general population. For example, research has found that even after controlling for the effects of parental education, respondents‟ education, labour market experience, gender and ethnicity, an increase in combined literacy performance of one standard deviation is associated with an increase in hourly wages of about 18%5. Since adults with poor skills on average earn lower wages and experience more frequent spells of unemployment, they are more prone to poverty and reliance on social benefits. For example, research from the United States has found that 79% of 19-23 year olds on public assistance have basic skills that are below the national average.6 Similarly, in Britain, adults with poor literacy are four times more likely to be receiving benefits than those with adequate basic skills7, and among those whose sole source of income was social security benefits, over two thirds were at the lowest two literacy scales8. This situation is compounded in Britain by the fact that adults with poor basic skills are more likely to be living in households where both partners are not in paid employment. As many as 12% of married/cohabiting men and women with very low literacy skills lived in a non-earning household, compared to just 2% of men and women with good literacy skills9.
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Low income also tends to lead to poor housing conditions. Research has found that in Britain, men and women with poor basic skills are far more likely to live in rented council or housing association accomodation10, which tends to be associated with poor housing conditions and disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Furthermore, adults with poor basic skills are also more likely to be homeless.11 The relationship between poor basic skills and income levels/poverty obviously has wider implications for welfare policy. The evidence suggests that higher income generated through improved skills and greater productivity will contribute to higher government revenues to support social services. This is of particular importance at a time when Member countries are pursuing policies to curb public spending and reduce deficits. The IALS survey suggests that even a relatively small increase in national productivity through improved literacy will have a relatively large impact on public revenues. For example, analysis of the survey suggests that a 2 % increase in wages and earnings from improvements in national literacy would provide approximately a 1.8% increase in revenue in a country that is dependent primarily on valueadded tax, and where 90% of such income is used for taxed consumption12. Family Life
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The intergenerational effect of poor basic skills is strong. When parents have trouble with reading, writing or numeracy it is more likely that their children start with a similar disadvantage at school. For example, research in the UK has found that 60% of children in the lowest reading attainment group at age 10 had parents with low literacy scores; only 2% had parents with high literacy scores.13 This relationship is of particular importance since skills acquisition in the early years is the biggest determinant of poor skills as an adult. This intergenerational link must also be viewed in the light of research which finds that women with poor basic skills are far more likely to have children at an early age than those with adequate skills, even after controlling for the age at which they left full-time education. Women with poor skills are also likely to have more children. For example, among women leaving school at 16, those with very low literacy skills were six times as likely to have had 3 or more children by the age of 25 in comparison to those with adequate skills 14. Health
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Numerous studies have shown a positive link between education and health status/longevity15. In general, it is assumed that a key connecting factor is the effect of education on improving literacy skills. For example many studies undertaken in developing countries have shown a specific positive relationship between women‟s literacy and health. It is also a fair assumption that adults with good basic skills are more likely to be able to gain access to information and obtain better health results through their ability to understand and process that information. Good examples of this are preventive health practices and the early detection of problems. Research in the UK has found that men and women with poor skills are far less likely to report good physical health. For example, in a recent survey, over three quarters of men overall reported that they had been in good health over the previous year compared with just half of those in the very low literacy group16. Furthermore, research suggests that poor basic skills can also impact on psychological health. In the same survey, some 36% of women with very low literacy skills had symptoms of depression – 5 times that of women with good literacy skills.
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Crime 21. There are also strong links between poor basic skills and criminal activity. For example, research in the United States found that 68% of 19-23 year old Americans arrested in the previous year had lower than average basic skills17. A recent survey in the UK suggested that some 60% of adults in prison suffered from poor literacy/numeracy, compared with some 20% in the overall population. This link is also strengthened by research which suggests that improvement in basic skills can lead to reduced recidivism18. Participation and Citizenship 23. The importance of citizenship for social inclusion and cohesion is a high profile issue within the European agenda. However, it is increasingly recognised that “many adult citizens lack relevant information, skills and confidence as well as access to opportunities for participation and engagement in the first place”.19 Literacy in particular is an essential element in making informed decisions, and is therefore a necessary ingredient for citizenship and community participation. For example, research in the UK suggests that men and women with very low literacy skills are least likely to participate in voluntary community activities, such as a parent-teacher association, political party or residents group. For example, only 3% of men and 14% of women had ever been a member of a public organisation compared with 30% of men and 47% of women with good literacy skills20. Similarly, the IALS survey found a positive relationship between literacy and community work in all countries surveyed. Adults with poor basic skills also take less of an interest in politics, and are more politically disillusioned. For example, recent research found that21: 14% of men with very low literacy expressed an interest in politics compared with 53% of men with good literacy skills; 50% of men with very low literacy skills felt that “none of the political parties would do anything for me” compared with 10% of men who had good literacy skills; women with poor numeracy skills were three times more likely not to vote as women with good numeracy skills; 20% of adults with poor literacy claimed they hardly ever followed current events compared to just 1% of those with good literacy22.
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The impact of Age 26. It is worth mentioning the relationship between age and poor basic skills, since age often appears as a further indicator of social exclusion. In Britain, 19% of adults with poor literacy are aged 46-55 and a further 28% are aged 56-65, meaning that 47% are aged over 45 compared with only 22% of those with good literacy23.
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The IALS survey suggests that the decline in literacy skills which often comes with age is associated mainly with differing life experiences, and is not due to the ageing process. People can lose some of their literacy skills if these are not maintained through regular and demanding practice at home and at work. Therefore a loss of skills in old age is not inevitable, and policy may be used to influence this trend, in order to help prevent elderly adults from being excluded from mainstream developments in society. As the IALS survey suggests, “literacy is the key facility senior citizens require in order to live their later years with dignity and self-confidence even though they see their familiar landscapes altered by social, technological and economic change.” Correlation or Causation?
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Of course, poor basic skills may not be the sole cause of any of these indicators of social exclusion, but improving an individual‟s basic skills can help them out of their current situation. This may be through making them more employable, enabling them greater access to health information and advice, or enabling them to cope with all the documentation surrounding getting into and staying in permanent accommodation. For example, there is no doubt that social benefit recipients and those in prison differ from the general population in more than just their levels of literacy. But their lower-than-average skills levels make finding jobs and stable employment more difficult. It is now widely agreed that improved skills can be a key route to social cohesion. The benefits of improved basic skills can take the form of higher worker productivity, income and government revenues; a better quality of life in terms of reduced poverty, unemployment, crime and public assistance; and improved health and child-rearing. In addition to these returns, there exist wider social benefits, which are much harder to quantify but no less important. Primary among these are considerations of citizenship, community participation and democracy. The net payoffs to investments in raising basic skills, whether private or social, are probably beyond calculation, but they are clearly substantial. It would therefore seem reasonable to assume that a significant proportion of public expenditure for welfare could be saved if the population at risk were to have access to, and make full use of, opportunities for developing basic skills. The following section outlines some of the developments that have been made in the UK to help adults in these circumstances access basic skills provision, and improve their basic skills, in an attempt to help them move out of social exclusion. Reaching out to Socially Excluded Learners
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In the UK there has recently been renewed interest in providing learning opportunities that are community-based in order to make education more accessible to the general population, and in particular for adults that are „hard to reach‟ or socially excluded. This is particularly important since time and again surveys have found that adult education and training programmes are less likely to reach those with low skills, who need them most. Basic skills providers in the UK have been experimenting with community-based approaches for a number of years and have made a great deal of progress, particularly in attracting adults unlikely to participate in „traditional‟ basic skills education. It has been recognised that it is possible to reach and motivate adults to improve their skills via a wider range of social actors and groups, not just through the educational community.
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For example a number of adults have been helped to improve their skills due to their connection with a prison, the Probation Service, Housing Associations, health centres, or a family literacy programme, rather than by contacting their local education provider (though the latter are often involved in running and delivering these programmes). As the previous section has made clear, poor basic skills are often just one of a number of difficulties faced by the individual. Making clear the positive impact that improved basic skills can have on these other, often more immediately relevant, problems may be one way of motivating adults to do something about improving their basic skills. The significance of the non-educational sector in improving basic skills has been recognised in the European context. For example, the recent EC paper, Learning for Active Citizenship argues that non-formal teaching and learning contexts, in particular those linked with associative life and civil society, can often more readily extend the scope of learning to all groups in the community. Similarly, the IALS survey suggests that only through using literacy in daily activities will higher levels of performance be attained. The experience of projects funded by the Basic Skills Agency in England and Wales suggests that the most effective community-based basic skills programmes are those that incorporate basic skills into the wider activities and interests of the learner. Early community work by basic skills providers from the education sector focused on making links with community organisations as referral agents. Typically, publicity was placed in relevant community agencies urging adults to join up and attend classes in colleges, adult education centres etc. Though this can and has been a successful promotion tool, this approach was generally unsuccessful in achieving the volume of students hoped for. This was predominantly due to the fact that many individuals were still not sufficiently motivated to join a course in a formal educational centre that might not be flexible in terms of time, location and length of course, and due to the fact that the content of the course was not necessarily focused on individual interests or needs. Other providers have established basic skills classes in community settings in order to attract adults already using the location for other purposes, for example bingo halls, community centres, health centres etc. Again, the success of these programmes have been limited by the failure to address issues of stigma (particularly in a popular local venue) and relevance to priorities or interest. For example, a basic skills class based in a centre for the homeless run by a charity, The Big Issue, failed to attract any clients. Three main reasons were given for the unpopularity of this course: clients had a wide range of problems which they saw as being of more importance, and therefore did not make attending the basic skills group a priority; the benefits of obtaining better basic skills were in many people‟s eyes rather abstract as, at that time, the project was not linked with other support services and therefore potential participants could not see any continuation between improving their basic skills and further training; a large number of people found it embarrassing to come forward as they didn‟t want to be viewed by others as „illiterate‟.
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However, the same project was successful in attracting clients to a programme that integrated basic skills into a course on publishing, which both lessened the stigma and provided much needed work experience as a motivator. Gaining specific work-related skills was viewed as a more direct route out of homelessness than a general improvement in basic skills.
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Case Studies of Effective Community-based Basic Skills Provision 39. From the experience of programmes funded by the Basic Skills Agency, three broad delivery models can be identified: a short course basic skills integrated into other training training of community/voluntary organisation‟s own staff
The following case studies illustrate some of the projects that have effectively reached, motivated and improved the skills of socially-excluded adults.
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Case Study 1
Short Course – Step to Health
Why was the project set up? The Step to Health project was a partnership between a city health project, an Adult Education Service and the Basic Skills Agency. The aim of the project was to improve access to both health education and basic skills. It was recognised that adults with basic skills difficulties may have difficulty accessing health advice and information, including reading health education leaflets, reading the instructions on a medicine bottle and measuring out medication correctly. The project targeted adults with basic skills needs who had not already been motivated to take up existing provision. What did the project involve? One aspect of the project was to provide taster sessions and short courses on health related themes. This included a short course for a group of men, all of whom had suffered heart attacks, about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles. All of the men had poor basic skills, but had not been motivated to join a course until it had direct relevance to their immediate needs. Basic skills were developed through the use of literacy and numeracy skills in relation to diet plans, cooking healthy meals, joining leisure centres and so on. Almost all adults attracted to the range of short courses were new to basic skills. What were the benefits of the project? According to the project workers, the benefits of a short course approach are that “many adults with literacy difficulties are hesitant about committing themselves to „education‟ but will find taster courses accessible, manageable and motivating”. The outcomes of this project included: attracting hard to reach groups who were new to basic skills provision – the project was particularly successful in recruiting unemployed adults and home carers, who may not access other provision; improved basic skills by the end of the course – 15% of attendees worked towards and gained accreditation; attendees reported increased confidence and a better understanding of health issues; health staff became more aware of how poor basic skills can affect their clients.
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Case Study 2
Integration in Other Training – West Midlands Community Housing Association
Why was the project set up? The Housing Association was trying to increase tenant involvement. It was recognised that tenant involvement required tenants to display a variety of interpersonal and literacy skills, along with the confidence to use these skills, which may act as a barrier to participation for those with poor basic skills. What did the project involve? Basic Skills support and teaching was built into a programme of training for tenants which included: Management Skills; Writing Estate Newsletters; Handling Meetings; Collecting and Recording Evidence; and Talking and Listening. Each course had 10-12 participants and was based in a community centre on the estate. The courses attracted tenants who had not been involved before by providing basic skills in a context that tapped into their daily concerns. As part of the courses tenants were offered the chance to gain qualifications in communication skills. What were the benefits of the project? By involving Colleges in the provision of the training, advice and guidance about progression routes onto mainstream basic skills courses was directly available to tenants. The course provided an easy access point for tenants to embark on further learning opportunities. The project effectively used housing staff as sources of referral to the course and therefore attracted individuals who did not view „education‟ as relevant to them. Assessment of tenants revealed improvements in literacy and numeracy skills, and a number gained accreditation. The Housing Association were able to attract more people to their programme and thereby reach their targets for tenant involvement. Residents who had previously not been involved in any community group began to play a greater role in local community activity.
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Case Study 3
Training Staff – STOP Project
Why was the project set up? The Stop Project (Specific Training for Offenders on Probation) was a European funded partnership project between Shropshire Probation Service and Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, Training and Enterprise. The project recognised that lack of sustainable employment is one of the single most significant factors that contribute to re-offending. It was also recognised that literacy is of great importance in obtaining employment, and that poor literacy is a significantly greater problem amongst offenders on probation than for the population as a whole. This situation was made worse by the fact that 44% of offenders aged below 25 years and with poor reading refuse education and/or training. Therefore, the project sought to demonstrate that through accurate identification of basic skills difficulties and provision of in-house support, the offending cycle could be broken. What did the project involve? One of the key features of the project was to invest in training Probation Officers to screen offenders on their caseloads. In this way, awareness, knowledge and expertise remained within the Service and enhanced the continuation of practice. Those offenders that were identified as having basic skills difficulties at this stage received a further diagnostic assessment of their skills. They then received a programme of support, involving volunteer mentors working with Probation Officers on Probation Service premises. Targeted resources were developed to reflect the needs and interests of offenders and to be readable and interesting. They were designed to allow greatest use by volunteer mentors working with offenders and by offenders working independently. What did the project achieve? The project found that appropriately trained Probation Officers can screen reliably for basic skills. They developed excellent action plans and co-ordinated the work of mentors. This increased the percentage of offenders accessing education/assessment opportunities to 87%. No one on probation refused screening. 55 mentors were recruited and trained.
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Probation Officers noted positive outcomes in terms of: Job interviews/taking up education; Increased confidence; particularly in looking for work; Willingness to seek help; Improved assertiveness; Time-keeping and keeping to terms of probation order; The project raised awareness concerning the range and scale of the problems associated with poor basic skills amongst: Probation Service Personnel Mentors Magistrates Police Custody Sergeants Offenders themselves
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In each of these case studies, the project was successful in reaching socially excluded adults who would not be likely to attend existing provision. This was achieved by offering customised provision that related to individual interests and needs. The case studies also show how community-based programmes can be as rigorous as those based in the formal educational sector in terms of initial and ongoing assessment and in linking achievement to accreditation. Though in all of the projects there were improvements in the basic skills of participants, the wider non-educational benefits should also be taken into account. In all cases the projects achieved a number of social outcomes as well as improved literacy/numeracy, including better understanding of health education and increased ability to act on this, lower offending rates, decreased aggression, and increased participation in the local community. This suggests that organisations with a non-educational focus can be motivated to establish projects that incorporate basic skills training and support. There are a number of interventions that can bring about these “three-to-one” or “two-to-one” returns, compared with other investments or programmes. For example, a literacy programme that emphasises parent training could potentially have three benefits: better care and literacy development for the participants‟ children; improved literacy for the participants, possibly leading to greater self-sufficiency; and, in the longer term, reduced health care and other social costs for both participants and their children. Similarly, a literacy programme for older adults that emphasised health and fitness could have a two-fold return. In England the government has recently established an Adult and Community Learning Fund which is aiming to develop these kinds of opportunities in the non-educational sector. Though projects have been funded in a number of sectors, each is attempting to demonstrate how a joined-up approach to basic skills and other social issues affecting the individual is the best way to tackle social exclusion. As argued in the IALS survey, “the development, enhancement and maintenance of literacy skills must also be seen as an integral concern in the design of other public policies. Only if social, economic and education policies converge in their attention to literacy issues will countries be able to develop true cultures of lifelong learning for all.”24
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Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society, OECD/HRDC, 1997 Learning for Active Citizenship, The European Commission, 1998 Influences on Adults‟ Basic Skills, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1998 It Doesn‟t Get Any Better, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1997 Raudenbush and Kasim, 1997, Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society, OECD/HRDC, 1997 Barton and Colely ,1996, Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society, OECD/HRDC, 1997 It Doesn‟t Get Any Better, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1997 Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society, OECD/HRDC, 1997 It Doesn‟t Get Any Better, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1997 It Doesn‟t Get Any Better, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1997 Literacy, Numeracy and Adults, The Basic Skiils Agency, 1987 Literacy for the Knowledge Society, OECD/HRDC, 1997 Parents and their hildren, The Basic Skills Agency, 1993 It Doesn‟t Get Any Better, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1997 See, for example, Grossman and Kaestner, 1997 It Doesn‟t Get Any Better, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1997 Barton and Colely, 1996, Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society, OECD/HRDC, 1997 See, for example, Can Educating Adult Offenders Counteract Recidivism, Porporino and Robinson, 1992 Learning for Active Citizenship, The European Commission, 1998 It Doesn‟t Get Any Better, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1997 It Doesn‟t Get Any Better, Bynner and Parsons, The Basic Skills Agency, 1997 Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society, OECD/HRDC, 1997 Adult Literacy in Britain, Office for National Statistics, 1997 Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society, OECD/HRDC, 1997
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