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CHAPTER SIX WHAT IMPACT DO LOW SKILL LEVELS HAVE ON EMPLOYMENT AND LIFE CHANCES?
Low levels of literacy or numeracy have an impact on many aspects of people's lives, including their likelihood of being unemployed, the type of jobs they do and their finances.
. . . men with SCQF Access Level literacy or numeracy were the least likely to be in full-time work at age 34, and the most likely to be unemployed or sick
School leavers
Some 44% of men and 37% of women living in Scotland had left full-time education by the time they were 16, compared to 50% of men and 43% of women living in England.
This early exit from education increased to:
- more than 8 in 10 men with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy
- 6 in 10 men with SCQF Level 2 or 3 numeracy.
- more than 7 in 10 women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy
- around 1 in 2 with SCQF Access Level 2 (54%) or 3 (47%) numeracy.
Women with SCQF Level 5 numeracy were the most likely to have spent time in post-16 education - just 20% having left school at 16.
Qualifications
It was not surprising to find that whereas more than 1 in 3 men and women with SCQF Level 5 literacy had a degree, none of the men and just 1 in 25 women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy were graduates.
People living in the Central Belt had the fewest qualifications. For example, as many as 54% of those with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy living in this area had no qualifications at all, compared with 31% of those with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy living in other areas of Scotland.
Employment history
In line with their early exit from education, people with a poor grasp of literacy or numeracy were the most likely to enter the workforce at 16. 53% of men and 59% of women with SCQF Levels 2 or 3 literacy had their first job at age 16. This compared with 47% men and 44% women with SCQF Level 2 numeracy and just 25% of men and 20% of women with Level 5 or higher numeracy.
Those with the weakest literacy and numeracy skills went on to have less stable working lives. For example, men with SCQF Level 2 numeracy were unemployed, on average, for 19 months between the ages of 16 and 34 - four times as long as those with SCQF Level 5 or higher numeracy skills, who were unemployed for just 5 months. Men with SCQF Level 2 numeracy also experienced more spells of unemployment.
When not in paid employment, women with SCQF Level 5 skills tended to be in full-time education, whereas women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy were mostly looking after their children full-time. During their mid-late twenties only around half of women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy were in paid employment, compared to more than 8 in 10 women with SCQF Level 5 or higher literacy skills.
Investment by employers in women in terms of training was lower than for men overall, but women with SCQF Access Level 2 or 3 literacy or SCQF Access Level 2 numeracy were the least likely to have been on training courses and women with SCQF Level 5 numeracy the most likely
Employment at age 34 - men
Men with literacy or numeracy skills at SCQF Level 3 or below were the least likely to be in full-time work and the most likely to be unemployed or off work for health reasons at the age of 34. Of those who were working, 4 in 10 had jobs as plant or machine operatives, while 2 in 10 worked in unskilled, insecure and often unregulated jobs.
The exclusion of men with low levels of literacy and numeracy from the service sector that provides many of today's job opportunities was clearly highlighted by the relatively small proportion using computers at work (38% with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy and 46% with Level 2 numeracy, compared with 75% of those with SCQF Level 5 skills).
Men with poor skills also fared badly in terms of employers' willingness to invest in them. Just 25% of men with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy and 33% with Level 2 numeracy had been promoted, compared to 55% of those with Level 5 or above skills. Similarly, only 19% of men with SCQF Level 2 or 3 in numeracy and literacy had received any work-related training, compared to 35% of men with Level 5 or above literacy and 43% with this level of numeracy.
Employment at age 34 - women
Women with poor literacy and numeracy skills were the least likely to be working full-time at the age of 34 (21% with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy and 35% SCQF Level 2 numeracy, compared to more than 50% of those with SCQF Level 5 literacy or numeracy). They were most likely to be working as unpaid carers (29% with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy, around 18% with SCQF Level 2 or 3 numeracy, but less than 10% of those with SCQF Level 5 or higher literacy and numeracy).
When they were in paid employment, women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy were also far more likely to have unskilled, insecure jobs - as cleaners or checkout workers, for example - than more secure office jobs in the service sector. Only 32% used a computer at work, compared with 60% of women with SCQF Level 2 numeracy and more than 80% of those with SCQF Level 5 or higher literacy and SCQF Level 4 or higher numeracy.
Employers were generally less willing to invest in women than men, but women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy and SCQF Level 2 numeracy were the least likely to have been on a training course.
The number of women with SCQF Levels 2 and 3 literacy who were in paid employment was too small to enable us to compare their experience of promotion with that of women with higher levels of literacy. We did, however, find that whereas 29% of women with SCQF Level 2 numeracy had been promoted since taking up their current job, this increased to 50% of those with Level 5 skills.
Exclusion from the digital revolution
Among our 34-year-olds living in Scotland, those with literacy and numeracy difficulties were the least likely to have a home computer or their own email address. This 'digital divide' was most apparent across literacy groups, with 39% of men and 50% of women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy not having a computer at home, compared to just 16% of men and 18% of women with SCQF Level 5 or higher literacy.
Financial circumstances
The economic disadvantage surrounding people with poor literacy and numeracy skills from an early age continued into their thirties. For example, men and women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy or SCQF Level 2 numeracy were six times more likely than those with SCQF Level 5 skills to receive state benefits. They were the most likely to be part of a non-working household and the least likely to be able to save regularly.
Adults with poor skills living in the Central Belt tended to be financially worse off than those in other parts of Scotland.
Conclusions
Adults with skills at or below SCQF Level 3 who were in work were likely to be in insecure jobs outside the thriving service sector. Excluded from the 'digital revolution', their disadvantages were often compounded by employers' unwillingness to train or promote them.
The relative economic deprivation that many of these men and women had known from childhood continued into their 30s. Few were able to save regularly and many were receiving state benefits.
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