Chapter 5Literacy proficiency of older adults☆
Introduction
Until recently, a large-scale insight into the literacy level of the Dutch population was lacking. The joint venture of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) was a good opportunity for the Dutch government to look at the functional literacy of the adult population. The study also devoted special attention to the literacy skills of older adults. At least four reasons motivated this extra attention. First of all, the demographic developments that many OECD countries are experiencing must be mentioned. In all OECD countries, the number of people of 50-years and older will increase sharply. About 35 per cent of the 500 million inhabitants in Europe are over 50-years old, which is similar in the Netherlands. The proportion is lower in the United States where 30 per cent of the population is older than 50-years (United Nations, 2003). Fig. 1 suggests that these percentages will increase in the years to come by 10 points on average. The Netherlands will reach 41 per cent of the population, Europe 46 per cent, and the United States 37 per cent.
Second, the elderly face greater marginalisation. On the one hand, there is a growing number of older adults who are well educated, have a good income and have ample leisure time. In the world of advertising, those are called the ‘GRAMPIES’, i.e., ‘Growing Retired Active Monied Persons in an Excellent State’. On the other hand, there are older adults who have little more than primary education. For example, this figure is 40 per cent of people over 65-years in the Netherlands (Central Bureau voor Statistiek, 2002). Many have a low income, especially older widows who are often isolated, and confronted by problems associated with health care and cultural changes. For the latter, the ability to participate in a complex and democratic society might have great preventive significance. This demands basic skills such as reading and writing.
Third, because of the ageing labour force, older employees will stay in the labour market longer. Nowadays, active labour market policies try to keep older employees at work longer. During the last decade, however, large numbers have been expelled from the labour market. This may not only be a problem for the individual, since the society at large is responsible to care for those who are unable to support themselves. In this respect, a sufficient level of literacy seems to be an important prerequisite for economic competitiveness and social cohesion. Fourth, technological innovations reinforce previous difficulties that older adults face. Technical innovations require an increasing level of literacy skills in daily life and at work.
The aim of this chapter is to offer insight into the literacy proficiency of older adults. More specifically, the chapter investigates:
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What are the literacy skills of older adults (50–75-years) in comparison to those of other adults?
- (b)
What are the literacy skills of different age-categories of older adults in relation to relevant background variables?
- (c)
In which literacy contexts do older adults experience problems, what kinds of coping strategies do they develop and what are the possible intervention-strategies to help them?
First, the chapter considers some of the literature about literacy proficiency in later life. Then Section 3 describes the Dutch study on older adults over 65-years, and in Section 4 the main results of the qualitative interviews are presented. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the possible strategies for intervention and some concluding remarks. Throughout the chapter, the expression ‘older adults’ refers to the group of adults between 50 and 75-years-old in the Netherlands.
Section snippets
Literacy in later life
The UNESCO Institute for Education (1992), OECD (1992) and Kirsch, Jungeblut, Jenkins, and Kolstad (1993) have studied the relation between literacy and ageing. They showed that a strong negative correlation between the two variables could be attributed mainly to the lower educational levels of older adults. In the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), the predecessor of IALS in the United States, older adults scored significantly lower than other age groups. “For example, adults over the age
Methodology: the IALS study and the Dutch qualitative study of older adults
In the Netherlands, the IALS study fielded a total sample of 3090 adults between 16 and 75-years-old. The sample of those aged 50–75 was 918. As described in Chapter 1 of this issue, the literacy profiles of all participating countries were estimated using Item Response Theory. Three scales were constructed: prose, document and quantitative literacy. The scores on these scales vary from 0 to 500 points. In order to facilitate the interpretation of the results, the continuous scores were divided
Older adults and literacy proficiency
Age is an important factor explaining differences in the literacy profile of populations. The situation in the Netherlands is similar to other countries participating in the IALS study (see OECD & Statistics Canada, 1995, pp. 80–83). Adults over 50-years scored significantly lower on all scales than adults under 50-years. Scores on the quantitative scale, however, are less sensitive to age than on other scales. The average score of adults under 50 years corresponds to Level 3 while the average
Possible strategies for intervention
Although many older adults can cope with literacy tasks in daily life, others may be considered ‘at-risk’. This ‘at-risk’ group is composed of older adults that have a higher chance of losing their job and to be socially excluded because of their low level of literacy skills. It seems that this is especially the case for older women. Coping strategies such as help from partners are useful, but make people more dependent and vulnerable when they lose them. Avoiding bank machines and other
Further remarks
The IALS study offered an excellent opportunity for participating countries to gain insight into the reading and quantitative skills of their adult populations. Until then such a large-scale empirical study was lacking. Despite the wealth of information made available by the IALS, however, many questions remain unanswered because the survey was not designed to answer all of the questions surrounding literacy. For example, writing and speaking are some of the literacy domains that still need to
Max van der Kamp, Ph.D. is a professor of adult education and research director of educational sciences at the University of Groningen. He studied psychology at the University of Amsterdam and wrote a dissertation on arts education. He was consultant to OECD and UNESCO. His research interests are learning in later life, social exclusion and arts education. He is supervising long-term educational projects in Mozambique and South Africa.
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Max van der Kamp, Ph.D. is a professor of adult education and research director of educational sciences at the University of Groningen. He studied psychology at the University of Amsterdam and wrote a dissertation on arts education. He was consultant to OECD and UNESCO. His research interests are learning in later life, social exclusion and arts education. He is supervising long-term educational projects in Mozambique and South Africa.
Emmanuel Boudard received his Ph.D. from the University of Stockholm in 2001. He was formally an OECD Statistician responsible for the International Adult Literacy survey during the third round of the data collection. His areas of interest are adult education, lifelong learning policies, the knowledge economy, measurement methods of literacy, and structural equation modelling. He is currently a Statistician Specialist at the Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Programme.
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This paper reflects the personal views of the author, which do not constitute policies of the United Nations Development Programme.