Adult Literacy
What is adult literacy?
Adult literacy is commonly defined as including the following skills for participating in the workforce:
- reading
- writing
- speaking in English
- listening
- communicating
- critical thinking
- problem solving
- using technology
Numeracy includes the mathematical knowledge and skills that adults need to apply to everyday family, work and community tasks.
Common numeracy and literacy tasks in the workplace include:
- following production schedules
- understanding operating procedures
- understanding health and safety requirements
- estimating and calculating quantity and weight
- reading and recording product codes
- contributing in team meetings
- solving problems
- writing shift or handover notes
Workplace literacy and numeracy skills may be described separately but they are often used together. For example:
- listening to a team leader's instructions about a change in a customer's order
- reading a job specification that contains text and numbers in a chart or table
- conveying information to a co-worker
- understanding the numeracy concepts (weights, measures, tolerances or temperatures) required to complete work tasks such as measuring product
Our society's increasing complexity has created other types of literacy. For example:
Health literacy involves the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information and services needed to make appropriate decisions. For example:
- managing chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure
- understanding how to take medications
- understanding the implications of failing to act on advice.
Adult literacy and numeracy in New Zealand
More than 40%* of New Zealanders aged 16 - 65 years have low literacy levels. Although most of these people can read and write, they can't meet all of the literacy demands of everyday life and work.
More than half* of our adult population have low numeracy levels.
New Zealand's adult numeracy and literacy levels are similar to those of other English-speaking nations, such as Australia, the UK and Canada.
Literacy and numeracy issues affect people from all walks of life and it is not easy to recognise when adults have literacy and numeracy problems.