Reading for pleasure helps fight drop
Edmonton Journal: July 7, 2007 by Shannon Proudfoot,CanWest News Service
Most Canadians, but especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, experience "significant" literacy loss as adults, a Statistics Canada report shows.
The decline in skills begins at age 25, peaks around 40 and then tapers off around 55 years old. For example, adults aged 40 scored an average of 288 on a standardized literacy test in 1994, but in a second survey nine years later, that had dropped to 275 -- a loss of reading ability equal to half a year of schooling.
Over their lifetime, the average Canadian will lose about one grade's worth of literacy skills, the report estimates."Literacy is not a static commodity that is acquired in youth and maintained throughout life," it concludes.More education mitigates the decline, with university graduates scoring about 30 points higher than high school grads.
People who didn't complete secondary school scored nearly 50 points lower than those who did, while employed Canadians scored 12 points higher than those not in the labour force.
The reading people do at work helps, but not nearly as much as reading a variety of materials for pleasure at home.
The data came from a series of international literacy surveys conducted in 1994 and 2003, with StatsCan gathering the Canadian component. This report focused on native-born Canadians, though other surveys show immigrants have significantly more literacy difficulties. More
For Overview & Highlights:
ABC Canada
ALL Literacy Survey
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