By Sasha Glasgow?
Adults with literacy and numeracy problems showed signs of these difficulties when they were as young as five years old, according to new research.
The study also finds that a disadvantaged family and home environment had a critical influence on their success in gaining these skills. The research, conducted by the National Research Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy have been following?the lives of over 17,000 people born in the same week,?since 1970.
At five years old, many of the adults in the study with poor skills were behind their peers in language development and visual and motor co-ordination tests. They were also less likely to have had any pre-school education or have been read to at home. By the time they were 10 years old, many of the adults with poor skills had fallen further behind in English and Maths tests.? Only one third? of adults with the poorest literacy and one in 10 with the poorest numeracy were receiving remedial help from their school. At 16, adults with literacy and numeracy problems were the most likely to want to leave school as soon as was possible to?get on-the-job experience instead of futher qualifications.
As well as experiencing a struggle to keep up educationally, people with poor skills often had a disadvantaged home life. The study shows that parents of these children were less likely to show interest in their studies, work in unskilled or partially skilled jobs and hold no qualifications of their own.
In adult life, those with poor numeracy and literacy skills showed similar disadvantages in their work and home lives. They had experieinced more frequent periods of unemployment and fewer opportunities for promotion.
Women were more likely to have become mothers at a young age and to have had three or more children, according to the research. But both sexes were far?less likely to have access to the internet or a computer in their homes.
John Bynner of the University of London, where the research was conducted,?said: ?Identifying children who are falling behind in English and Maths at the earliest possible opportunity and investing in addressing these difficulties are both vital.
“If these children don?t get extra help they are likely to leave primary school without the basics, and there?s little chance that they will catch up or engage with future learning opportunities.?
He advocated that simple steps such as reading to children at home and taking an interest in their education would help them better understand the basics. “It will not just help improve things for people who face the biggest disadvantages in the workforce and in life, it will also help ensure that their children face a brighter future and freedom from social exclusion,? Bynner added.
