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Not only are skills, including basic literacy and numeracy, critical to the prosperity and well-being of individuals, they are also key drivers of economic growth and societal advancement. The OECD’s new international Survey of Adult Skills aims to help countries secure better skills policies by measuring the basic skills of adults in 24 countries and demonstrating how these skills relate to economic and social outcomes.
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• Low “basic” skills (literacy and numeracy) are more common in the United States than on average across countries. One in six adults have low literacy skills – in Japan the comparable figure is one in 20. Nearly one in three have weak numeracy skills against a cross country average of one in five. Looking at stronger performers, while one in nine US adults score at the highest level in literacy, similar to the cross-country average, only one in twelve score at the highest numeracy level, well below the average. In a new domain designed to assess some skills with modern information and communication technology “problem solving in technology-rich environments” the US results are a little worse than the cross-country average.
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The basic skills of literacy and numeracy are of huge importance to our economies and societies. The OECD’s new Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) assesses skills of literacy, numeracy and a newly assessed domain of “problem solving in technology-rich environments” in a number of countries. This special report, to be published alongside the main international survey, looks at the results for the United States and identifies their policy implications.
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This chapter describes the main findings of the OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills for the United States and compares them with the results from a set of key comparison countries. The implications of the results – in terms of labor market outcomes such as employment and wages, and social outcomes such as health and citizenship are considered. Potential explanations for the US results are then assessed in relation to outcomes from basic schooling, age factors, and educational attainment. The characteristics of low-skilled adults are given separate attention.
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This chapter assesses the policy implications of the US results. It looks at why action is needed, arguing that the lack of improvement in skills in younger cohorts and the relatively weak performance at the top end of the ability spectrum suggest underlying weaknesses requiring both improvements in initial education and training and effective adult learning interventions. The chapter argues for seven policy recommendations: that concerted action is necessary to address the skills challenge; that substantial improvements are needed in initial schooling, with adequate standards for all; that effective learning pathways should be available for young adults after leaving high school; that programs to address basic skills should be linked to employability; that adult learning programs should be adapted to diverse needs and effectively coordinated with other interventions; that awareness of basic skills challenges should be increased; and that action should be well-supported with evidence.
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