New Light on Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland: Evidence from the 2004 survey of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)

Chapter 1 Introduction

Adult literacy and numeracy has enjoyed a high profile in Scotland since the Scottish Executive, in 2001, pledged political commitment and financial support through community partnerships. The Executive also established, in 2003, a national development engine ('Learning Connections'). £51 million pounds of new resources were invested over five years (2001-6), with a further £37.1 million from 2006-8 - by far the biggest initiative in the field for over 20 years. 15,000 learners were engaged in literacy programmes across Scotland in 2001 and more than 137,000 learners were supported by 2006. The target is to support 200,000 learners by 2008.

A realisation that Scottish based research into adult literacy and numeracy difficulties was virtually non-existent at that time led to the commissioning of a further analysis of Scottish data from the 1996 International Adult Literacy Survey ( IALS). This suggested that 800,000 adults in Scotland had literacy and numeracy difficulties, with only 15,000 (or 2%) having their needs met through provision from various providers. This, and other research, influenced the 2001 Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland r eport ( ALNIS) and the development of the subsequent adult literacy and numeracy strategy. Literacies in the Community, which had been published in 2000, supplied the guidance and resources that practitioners and managers needed to implement the strategy. However, there is still much to learn about the lives of adults in Scotland who have a poor grasp of literacy and numeracy.

In 2004, the latest survey of the 1970 British Cohort Study ( BCS70) took place, with a special emphasis on assessing the literacy and numeracy skills of all participating cohort members, then aged 34. The initial report on the results of the survey, New Light on Literacy and Numeracy compared distributions of cohort members across literacy and numeracy levels and showed interesting differences between Scotland, Wales and England, with the Scottish and English distributions of both literacy and numeracy performance showing the most in common - despite the different education systems.

Substantial differences in life chances, quality of life and social inclusion were evident between individuals at or below SCQF Access Level 2 and often those with SCQF Access Level 3 literacy, compared with others at higher levels of literacy and numeracy competence. Earlier work, based on smaller samples of English and Welsh cohort members, showed that these poor literacy and numeracy skills had foundations in poor family background and bad educational experience pointing to continuing trajectories of disadvantage in which weak literacy and numeracy had a central part. SCQF Access Level 2 skills were associated with lack of qualifications, poor labour market experience and prospects, poor material and financial circumstances, poor health prospects and lack of social and political participation. This report has been commissioned by the Learning Connections team to discover whether similar patterning prevailed in Scotland. Concentrating on Scottish cohort members, we replicate much of the analyses undertaken in the original New Light report, but additionally profile the early life experiences and transitions made to independent adult life. Where possible, we will also explore any differences in these relationships between the different Scottish regions, more specifically those living within the Central Belt and other parts of Scotland.

Introduction to Britain's birth cohort studies

Before moving on to the analyses, the following background to Britain's birth cohort studies is provided. Britain's nationwide birth cohort studies follow the same group of people from birth into and through adulthood, thus giving a picture of whole generations. By following up people from birth it is possible to find how present situations relate to past circumstances and to predict future functioning. Cohort studies are one of the richest resources for the study of human development, covering all aspects of life. They are widely used by government and in academic research, both nationally and internationally. There are four such surveys in Britain:

• National Survey of Health and Development ( NSHD), which began in 1946;
• National Child Development Study ( NCDS), which began in 1958;
• 1970 British Cohort Study ( BCS70), which began in 1970;
• Millennium Cohort Study ( MCS), which began in 2000.

The first three of these studies are based on all births in Great Britain in one week in 1946, 1958 and 1970 respectively, whereas the MCS is based on births over a period of 12 months in selected areas in the United Kingdom. NCDS, BCS70 and MCS are all managed by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies ( CLS) at the Institute of Education, University of London. NSHD is based in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College, London.

BCS70 in detail

BCS70 began in 1970, when data were collected about all the babies born in England, Scotland and Wales ² in one week of April 1970 . As shown in Figure 1.1, cohort members have since been followed up six times, at ages 5, 10, 16, 26, 30, and most recently at age 34, to collect data about their health, educational, social and economic circumstances. Additionally, a representative sample was followed up at age 21. In the early years information was collected from parents, health professionals and teachers; the questionnaires were generally cross-sectional in design. As the cohort members became the primary source of the information gathered, the focus shifted to obtaining the 'complete history' of a cohort member's experience or involvement in, for example, education, full-time employment, independent living and home ownership, marriage, pregnancies and having children. Not all information is longitudinal, and current statuses that provide a snapshot of British life for the cohort members are routinely collected in all surveys. In the most recent (sixth) follow-up, carried out in 2004 when most cohort members were aged 34 ³, histories were updated and a wide variety of current information pertinent to all domains of adult life was also gathered. The final 2004 sample size was 9665 - 56% of the original birth cohort and 74% of the first (age 5) follow-up sample.

Figure 1.1: BCS70 follow-up studies from 1970 to 2004

The Scottish sample

Of the 9665 BCS70 cohort members interviewed in 2004, 99.8% supplied good geographic information. In line with the spread of the UK population in mid 2004, 9% of all cohort members lived in Scotland (n=891). 86% lived in England, leaving 5% in Wales ⁴. Taking this further, we used address information to place cohort members living in Scotland in either the 'Central belt' or the 'Rest of Scotland' ⁵. 57% of all cohort members in Scotland lived in areas deemed to fall within the Central Belt.

With an eye to the issue of 'skill gain', or 'skill loss' from the different countries within Great Britain, we also looked into the geographic background of cohort members. Had those born in Scotland remained in Scotland or moved away, and how many of those born in either Wales or England had moved to Scotland later on in their life? ⁶ This is obviously not a comprehensive look at movement in or out of Scotland by cohort members, but a (simple) way of identifying the Scottish 'roots' of cohort members. Of the 891 cohort members living in Scotland in 2004, 89% (n=793) had been born there and 11% (n=98) had moved there at a later age. Table 1.1 details all BCS70 cohort members participating in 2004 by whether they were born or currently live in Scotland. We can see that just 1% of our longitudinal sample had been born in Scotland and currently lived in either England or Wales (predominantly England) and 1% had moved to Scotland after they were born.

Table 1.1: BCS70 cohort members by their 'Scottishness'

What's covered in the report

Chapter 2 focuses on self-awareness of literacy and numeracy difficulties, attendance at learning provision and motivation to improve skills within the overall Scottish population.

Chapter 3 turns attention to the assessment of adult literacy and numeracy, briefly describing the assessment instruments before comparing the distribution of scores for men and women drawing attention to differences by their Scottish profile.

Chapters 4 and 5 - in these two chapters we profile the early life experiences of cohort members living in Scotland in 2004, making use of the full range of information collected during their childhood, at their birth, and at ages 5, 10 and 16. In Chapter 4 we detail family socio-economic background, parental education and family support measures, and in Chapter 5 we look at early cognitive and educational achievement, together with identification of difficulties at early ages by parents and teachers, and consider some characteristics of the school environment itself. These various indicators of skills acquisition will flag up key targets of intervention prior to adulthood.

From this point on we focus on differences across the performance levels in cohort members' experiences from age 16 up to age 34. First up in Chapter 6 is education and qualifications. We then return to the issue of self awareness of difficulties and motivation to improve skills alongside learning difficulties, or more specifically, evidence of symptoms associated with dyslexia. We finally consider the relationship between poor literacy and numeracy and exclusion from digital media in the home.

Chapters 7, 8 and 9 move on to compare outcomes at age 34 in many spheres of adult life. Expanding the original New Light analysis, we use work and family life history data to look at how men and women in Scotland in 2004 with the poorest skills compared with men and women with more accomplished literacy or numeracy. In Chapter 7 we look at first employment up to current situation at age 34, including work-related and other associated financial disadvantages. In Chapter 8 we turn to age of first leaving the parental home and experiences in the housing market up to age 34, including a look at the local environment and community participation and, finally, in Chapter 9 we describe relationship formation, becoming a parent and health and well-being.

Chapter 10 offers concluding remarks.