A short while back, Heather Reisman (President and CEO of Indigo books) was interviewed on The Hour, and brought up a couple of points that piqued my interest. According to Reisman,

  • 40% adult Canadians functionally illiterate
  • That 40% of Canadian adults are the biggest drain on social services, hospitals, and are more likely to end up in jail
  • By increasing literacy in adult Canadians by 1%, we would be adding $17 billion to our economy

In all honesty, I was a little surprised and greatly skeptical about the figures Reisman brought forth, especially about how increasing literacy could help our economy. So I’ve done some research, and have uncovered some facts. But first, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has defined literacy as

the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

In other words, if you aren’t literate you can’t communicate well enough to survive well in the Canadian job market.

In 2003 a survey was done by the Government of Canada, among other organizations, called the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey. This survey tested over 20,000 Canadians on their literacy, and it discovered that only 58% of adult Canadians had good literacy skills. So, that leaves 42% who don’t have good literacy skills. Wow!

But how would improving literacy skills help out economy?

  • Studies have been done that show that low literacy skills can be related directly to poor health, social assistance, poverty and unemployment.
  • If people are more literate, they will be more likely to get better paying jobs. This would decrease the amount of government spent on employment insurance and social assistance.
  • More people with good literacy help with economic growth.

I don’t know exactly how money much that would save or make, whether Reisman’s figure of $17 billion is right, but it is some food for thought.