Worklessness, literacy and reading

Lindsay Prestage

Reading and Literacy Manager

Libraries & Archives, Kent County Council

What’s literacy got to do with it?

• Research shows that literacy (and numeracy) skills play an important part in terms of employability and wages.

• Men and women with poor literacy had the lowest levels of full-time employment at the age of 30

• Men who improve their literacy rates see their likelihood of being on state benefits reduced from 19% to 6%.

What’s literacy got to do with it?

• 63% of men and 75% of women with very low literacy skills have never received a promotion.

• Acquisition of Level 1 numeracy or literacy skills raises the probability of employment by about 5 percentage points, and, for workers, raises wages by about 7 percentage points in the case of literacy skills.

The Kent Approach to Literacy and Reading

Underpins the 3 ambitions of the Vision for Kent

• to grow the economy• to tackle disadvantage• to put the citizen in control

Aims:

• Raise awareness of literacy needs • Promote the benefits of reading• Raise awareness of the excellent good

practice that already exists • Involve more people to help us raise

standards

Priority groups include:

• People who are out of work or on working age benefits

• Young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs)

Involving the whole community

and you … ?

Kent History and Library Centre

Reading and Literacy activities in Maidstone

Working together

lindsay.prestage@kent.gov.uk