National Adult Literacy Database

Authors: T. Scott Murray, Mike McCracken, Doug Willms, Stan Jones, Richard Shillington, John Stucker

Collection: Research Materials

In this report, the authors discuss the cost and the importance of investing in literacy. They suggest that advanced literacy is the single most important tool that Canadians need to compete in the global economy and present estimates of the total cost of raising the literacy skill of the adult population to Level 3.

This report includes an executive summary and forward followed byfive chapters:
Chapter 1- Introduces the report and provides background on the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey and the International Survey of Reading Skills (ISRS) studies upon which analyses in the report are based.
Chapter 2 - Summarizes what was measured in the ISRS and what it means
Chapter 3 - Defines segments in the Canadian literacy market
Chapter 4 - Contains estimates of the costs and benefits of releasing Canada’s economic potential through literacy instruction
Chapter 5 - Summary and conclusions

Added: 2009-01-08

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Series: Adult Aboriginal Literacy Levels and Workplace Skills

Authors: T. Scott Murray

Collection: Learning Materials

This video is part of a presentation by T. Scott Murray on the results of an analysis, completed in 2010, of adult Aboriginal literacy levels in the Northwest Territories, and the effects of those levels on individuals, communities, and the nation. Murray is the president of DataAngel Policy Research, which collaborated with Bow Valley College in Calgary, Alberta, to produce the videos.

In this segment, Murray looks at the effects of literacy skill levels on individuals in Canada. He focuses on three specific outcomes: duration of unemployment; effect on wages; and personal health.

Among people with high skills, half will be able to find another job within nine weeks of becoming unemployed. For those with low skills, the average period of unemployment may be as high as 38 weeks.

In Canada, one-third of the variation between low-wage and high-wage earners is attributable to difference in literacy skills.

To illustrate the impact of literacy on health, Murray presents a chart that plots the level of health literacy and the prevalence of diabetes for each region of Canada. The figures show that the higher the rate of health literacy, the lower the rate of diabetes. Investments in literacy, therefore, could lower rates of diabetes and reduce health-care costs.

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Added: 2012-06-14

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Series: Adult Aboriginal Literacy Levels and Workplace Skills

Authors: T. Scott Murray

Collection: Learning Materials

This video is the final segment of a presentation by T. Scott Murray that explores the results of an analysis, completed in 2010, of adult Aboriginal literacy levels in the Northwest Territories, and looks at how those levels affect individuals, communities, and the nation. Murray is the president of DataAngel Policy Research, which collaborated with Bow Valley College in Calgary, Alberta, to produce the video presentation.

The figures show that about 58 percent of all workers in the Northwest Territories actually have a skill shortage, meaning that their literacy skills are less than what is required to do their jobs effectively and safely.

Among Aboriginal workers, the percentage is higher, at roughly 61 percent. That means that about 8,000 out of 13,000 Aboriginal workers in the Northwest Territories have a literacy skill shortage.

The good news is that most of those workers are only slightly below the necessary literacy level and would need a relatively modest investment to raise them to an acceptable level.

If enough money was invested to solve the problem, Murray says, the result would be a rate of return of between 133 percent and 350 percent per year following the investment.

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Added: 2012-06-21

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Series: Adult Aboriginal Literacy Levels and Workplace Skills

Authors: T. Scott Murray

Collection: Learning Materials

This is the second of four sections of a video presentation by T. Scott Murray, president of DataAngel Policy Research, which collaborated with Bow Valley College in Calgary, Alberta, to produce the series.

Murray points out that differences in literacy rates are the single biggest determinant of how rapidly the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow. The larger the proportion of low skilled workers, the lower the economic growth rate.

The prescription for raising that growth rate is to raise the average skill level of the population. The most efficient way of raising the average skill level is by improving the skills of the least skilled.

Murray notes that governments in Canada invest heavily in creating skills through the public school system, postsecondary education, and adult education and training. On the other hand, governments do almost nothing to create demand for skills. Canada needs policies that raise skill demand because it is those high-skilled jobs that provide stable employment.

As well, public policy should be directed towards developing tools to identify existing skill levels and to offer remedial assistance to those who need it.

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Added: 2012-06-06

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Authors: T. Scott Murray

Collection: Learning Materials

This video features Scott Murray, president of DataAngel Policy Research, discussing the links between literacy levels, and social and economic equality.

The roots of inequality start early, Murray points out. Children from relatively rich backgrounds arrive at school already knowing the letters of the alphabet and showing a disposition to succeed. Because they already have the basic tools, they learn at a more rapid rate and go on to accumulate further economic and social advantages.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds may arrive at school without those basic tools and, as a result, they take more time and have more trouble becoming fluent readers. Their lack of fluency limits how much they can learn and, in turn, leads to negative feelings about education.

Those with lower literacy skills are more likely to have poor health, Murray notes. At the simplest level, that is because they have more trouble reading health information. But in addition, low-skilled workers end up in the riskiest jobs and may be subject to stresses that hurt their immune systems.

Differences in average literacy levels explain over 55 percent of the differences in long-term Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and productivity. Raising the literacy skills of those at the lowest levels increases productivity and helps individuals improve their quality of life.

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• OLES

Added: 2012-12-11

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Series: Literacy and Earnings project - CLLN

Authors: T. Scott Murray, Richard Shillington

Collection: Research Materials

Based on their analysis of data from the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS) and other sources, the authors of this report conclude that there is little doubt that literacy and poverty are closely linked. The authors go on to explore the implications of this relationship for public policy.

Investment in literacy would lead to both significant increases in earnings and significant reductions in the numbers of adults receiving employment insurance and social assistance benefits. Raising every Canadian adult to the level of literacy required to participate fully in today’s economy would reduce social assistance rolls by 84,000 and generate annual benefits savings of $542 million.

Research suggests that it would require an investment of roughly $18 billion to eliminate occupational literacy skills shortages in Canada. The authors point out that while this figure seems high, it would probably generate an additional $100 billion in annual earnings.

In order to realize those returns, governments should encourage employers to assess their employees’ literacy and numeracy skills and to upgrade skills where needed; increase the economic demand for literacy skill by replacing passive income support with active education policies; and create tax incentives for individuals and employers to invest in skill upgrading.

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• OLES

Added: 2012-11-23

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Series: International Adult Literacy Survey

Authors: J. Douglas Willms, T. Scott Murray

Collection: Research Materials

This study uses data from IALS and ALL to explore how Canada’s stock of literacy skill evolved over the nine year period from 1994 to 2003. It employs a synthetic cohort analysis to document net skill change for various demographic groups for Canada and the provinces and to explore the individual characteristics that influence whether a particular group has gained or lost skill on average over the nine year reference period.

The analysis reveals the presence of significant literacy skill loss in adulthood, loss that would seem to be concentrated in adults from lower socio- economic backgrounds. Given the influence that literacy skill appears to exert upon individual labour market success and the overall performance of the economy understanding what underlies the loss and what, if anything, should be done by individuals, institutions or governments to slow or reverse the process, should be a priority.

Added: 2007-08-10

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• Acquisition et perte de compétences en littératie au cours de la vie

Authors: Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), T. Scott Murray, Janet Hagey, Douglas Willms, Richard Shillington, Richard Desjardins

Collection: Research Materials

Six out of 10 Canadians, or 60 per cent of the population, lack the skills needed to adequately manage their health-care needs. By comparison, 48 per cent of Canadians have low levels of literacy in general.

The authors of this report point out that mastering health literacy tasks usually requires that adults use prose literacy, document literacy and numeracy skills at the same time. Therefore, health literacy involves more than the ability to read or to understand numbers. Context matters, as does the ability to find, understand, evaluate and communicate health-related information.

Canadians with the lowest health literacy skills were found to be more likely to be in poor or fair health as those with the highest skill levels. Health literacy levels also seem to affect health outcomes at the population level. For instance, the prevalence of diabetes declines as health literacy rises.

The authors say the research presented in this report suggests that daily reading habits have the single strongest effect on health literacy proficiency. Reading books, newspapers, magazines, websites, letters, notes or emails all helped to sustain or improve health literacy rates, regardless of education level.

Added: 2010-01-13

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• La littératie en santé au Canada : Une question de bien-être

Series: Literacy and Earnings project - CLLN

Authors: T. Scott Murray, Richard Shillington

Collection: Research Materials

This report is part of a project undertaken for the Canadian Literacy and Learning Network (CLLN), exploring the relationship between literacy and income.

The authors’ statistical analysis shows that efforts to increase literacy and essential skills could provide significant reductions in Canadians’ reliance on income support from employment insurance, workers’ compensation, and social assistance. This would free up significant fiscal resources for governments.

Investing in literacy would also trigger significant reductions in the current level of social inequality in employment, income, health, and social engagement, the authors note. It is difficult to put an economic value on these benefits, but they would undoubtedly help both individuals and society as a whole.

They urge governments and educational institutions to establish systems that would identify students at all ages who are failing to acquire literacy skills at the expected rate and, in turn, respond to make sure those individuals are receiving the education and training they need to succeed in the long term.

Funders:

• OLES

Added: 2012-11-28

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Series: Comments on the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey

Authors: T. Scott Murray

Collection: Research Materials

In this document, T. Scott Murray, the International Study Director of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL) responds to opinions expressed in the article "ALL Wrong Again! Can Adult Literacy Assessments Be Fixed?" posted on the NALD website.

Added: 2005-05-24

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