Literacy has long been valued in its own right and for the access it provides to other benefits such as employment, high income and the capacity to participate fully in society. What has often not been recognized is the full range of benefits to be derived from a literate population, for both the economy and for society.

Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society is the latest report of The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). Lauched in Vancouver during the ' Policy Strategies for Improving Literacy Skills' conference, the report contains information on the status of literacy skills in twelve nations: Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as Canada. The report is published by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in cooperation with Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC).

The goal of the survey was not to rank countries from the most literate to the least literate. Rather, its aim was to compare, across cultures and languages, literacy performance among people with a wide range of abilities. Consequently, any direct comparisons across countries must incorporate an understanding of the social and economic characteristics of each country that underlie the observed literacy skill profiles. With this caveat, IALS makes it possible to place individual countries in the international literacy continuum.

The survey shows that literacy contributes to the economy in the form of higher worker productivity and income, provides a better quality of life in terms of reduced poverty, unemployment and public assistance, and helps to ensure improved health and child rearing practices.

Educational attainment is therefore critical at the job-entry level as employers in most countries use educational credentials as a screening device for initial hiring. Once past this critical juncture, however, interesting differences in the way different labour markets reward literacy skills is revealed. As measured by wage premiums, the independent economic returns to literacy are largest in the most open economies. In the United Kingdom and the United States, for example, the net return (or benefit) to skill is large and the same order as the return to formal educational qualifications. In the Netherlands and Sweden, in contrast, the rewards to both education and literacy skill are comparable to the effect of labour market experience. This rather paradoxical effect may be related to the fact that literacy skills are higher on average and more uniformly distributed in these populations so that differences in skill are smaller and more difficult for employers to detect, evaluate and reward.

The report states that it is important that the goal of increased literacy skill be supported across a broad range of other policy areas such as those related to youth, seniors, employment, human resource development, health, social welfare and crime prevention.

Senator Joyce Fairbairn, Special Advisor for Literacy, who opened the OECD conference November 4th on behalf of the Honourable Pierre S. Pettigrew, Minister for Human Resources Development, was quoted as saying: " A highly skilled and literate workforce is crucial to a strong and internationally competitive economy as industrialized countries around the world fight to maintain and expand their share of high-wage jobs."

Earlier IALS work demonstrated that literacy is policy sensitive. In short, policy does matter. IALS findings suggest that the coordination of policies over a wide range of different policy domains can have a significant impact, directly or indirectly, on adult literacy levels. Governments will have to develop policies to respond to the need for literacy programmes targeting lower-skilled workers 45 years and older many of whom may reasonably expect to continue working for many years.

Although literacy is not the only determinant of employment levels, strong literacy rates make a labour force more productive and employable over the long run, providing incentives to attract capital investment and job creation. Continuously upgrading the skills of populations and workforces through strategies for lifelong learning should be part of the responses to tackle poor, low-wage jobs and persistent unemployment.

However, the search for solutions requires a commitment to concerted action by a variety of players. Governments cannot do it alone; they can formulate strategies for improvements, but delivering those strategies requires partnerships. Employers, workers, national and community organizations, different levels of government, and individuals all have a role to play in encouraging strong literacy skills within a society.

To obtain a copy of this report, contact:
OECD Publications, 2 André-Pascal 75775 Paris CEDEX 16 France Tel.n (+33) 01.45.24.81.81.67, Fax (+33) 01.45.24.19.50. The report is also available at the following Website: http://www.nald.ca/nls/ials/ialsreps/ialsrpt2/ials2/front.htm