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Employment: Literacy

Answer

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.Trend data on literacy and numeracy levels and their effect on employment levels in Harlow constituency over each of the last 10 years are not available. The most recent available data on literacy and numeracy levels in the Harlow constituency are the modelled estimates based on the 2003 Skills for Life survey¹. Table 1 as follows provides the estimated numbers and proportions of adults aged between 16 and 65 (inclusive) at each literacy and numeracy level:"¹ Available online at:""http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100415101327/http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/readwriteplus_skillsforlifesurvey/statics/allpcons_881_0.shtml""accessed on 7 February 2012. This webpage includes the literacy estimates for the Harlow constituency. Numeracy estimates are obtainable by clicking on the 'Numeracy' button above the table."

Table 1: Literacy and numeracy levels in Harlow constituency (2003)
	Literacy	Numeracy
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
Entry Level or below	5,435	10	27,290	48
Level 1	26,340	46	18,580	33
Level 2 or above	25,390	45	10,480	18
Note:
Numbers and proportions are estimates. Proportions may not sum to 100 due to rounding.
Source:
Modelled estimates based on the 2003 Skills for Life survey.

The fieldwork for the survey on which these modelled estimates are based was conducted between July 2002 and May 2003. No information is provided at a constituency level in the survey of the impact of literacy and numeracy levels on employment. The overall findings for England reported in the 2003 Skills for Life survey report indicated that the literacy and numeracy Levels of people in employment were higher than those who were not employed, as shown in tables 2 and 3 as follows:

Table 2: Literacy level by employment status in England, 2003
	Employed	Non-employed
	All	Full-time	Part-time	All	Seeking work	Not seeking work
Entry level and below (percentage)	13	12	14	26	25	26
Level 1 (percentage)	40	39	42	39	39	39
Level 2 or above (percentage)	48	48	44	35	37	35
Base	5,485	4,086	1,399	2,379	308	2,071
Base:
All respondents in 2003 Skills for Life survey with literacy level recorded.
Note:
Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Table 3: Numeracy level by employment status in England, 2003
	Employed	Non-employed
	All	Full-time	Part-time	All	Seeking work	Not seeking work
Entry Level and below (percentage)	41	38	51	61	58	62
Level 1 (percentage)	30	30	27	23	22	23
Level 2 or above (percentage)	29	32	22	16	20	16
Base	5,544	4,127	1,417	2,489	322	2,167
Base:
All respondents in 2003 Skills for Life survey with numeracy level recorded.
Note:
Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

It is worth noting that the correlation between employment and skill level does not necessarily imply a causal relationship, as other factors also affect both variables.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

93397; 540 c341-3W

Session

2010-12

Subjects

Employment Literacy Basic skills Harlow

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk