worklessness, literacy and reading lindsay prestage reading and literacy manager libraries &...
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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