The document summarizes data from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey on literacy and numeracy levels among New Zealanders. Key findings include: - Around 900,000 New Zealanders have literacy and numeracy skills below Level 3, the minimum needed for today's society. - Literacy and numeracy levels are strongly linked to educational qualifications and first language. - Self-reported skills and daily literacy practices also correlate with assessed levels. - Literacy, language and numeracy encompass a wide range of everyday skills needed to handle information, solve problems, communicate, and achieve goals.

1. Literacy and numeracy – who
needs it?

4. Level 4/5
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
-40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Satisfied Extremely satisfied Neither Dissatisfied Extremely disatistifed
Life satisfaction

5. Level 4/5
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
-60% -40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Very good Excellent Good Fair Poor
Overall health

6. 100%
95%
90%
Estimated employment rate
85%
80%
75%
70%
65%
60%
55%
50%
-2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Document literacy (standard deviations from the mean)
None School or tertiary qualification
Employment

7. $50
$45
Estimated average hourly wage
$40
$35
$30
$25
$20
$15
$10
$5
$0
-1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Document literacy (standard deviations from population mean)
None, school or tertiary certificate or diploma Degree Postgraduate
Income – hourly wages

8. Understanding, evaluating, u
sing and engaging with
written texts to participate
in society, to achieve one’s
goals, and develop one’s
knowledge and potential
PIAAC - OECD
Managing a situation or solving
a problem in a real context, by
responding to mathematical
content, information, ideas
represented in multiple ways.
PIAAC - OECD

9. Workplace literacy and numeracy
Understanding, evaluating, u is a whole range of skills, not
sing and engaging with simply whether people can read or
written texts to participate in write. It is how well they do these
society, to achieve one’s things, their communication
goals, and develop one’s skills, how well people work in
knowledge and potential teams, and whether firms can
PIAAC - OECD introduce new technology and
approaches.
Industry Training Federation
Supports Māori to participate fully in Managing a situation or
society … āhuatanga solving a problem in a real
Māori, underpinned by Māori values context, by responding to
and knowledge and recognises non- mathematical
paper based literacies, is learner content, information, ideas
centred, multifaceted, multidimensio represented in multiple ways.
nal and holistic PIAAC - OECD
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi

10. Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey – one measure of literacy and
numeracy
Level 3 = minimum needed “to understand and use information
contained in the increasingly difficult texts and tasks that
characterise the emerging knowledge society and information
economy”
Level 2 = people can read and do basic numeracy, but are likely to have some
difficulty working things out in new or challenging situations
Level 1 = people could have problems with understanding everyday
written material and numeric tasks
Note: Assessment is in English

11. So how many New Zealanders have low literacy
and numeracy?
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
Level 4/5
1,500,000 Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
1,000,000
500,000
0
Prose Document Numeracy
For each domain

12. So how many New Zealanders have low literacy
and numeracy?
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
Level 4/5
1,500,000 Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
1,000,000
500,000
0
Highest Lowest
Across all three domains

13. Combined literacy/numeracy and educational
qualifications
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
None School Certificate 1-3 Cert/dip 4-7 Bachelors Masters and Doctorate

14. Combined literacy/numeracy and first language
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
English Other

15. Level 2
(650,000)
Level 1
(250,000)

17. Other ways of assessing literacy and numeracy …
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Enjoyed maths at school Got good grates
Teacher went too fast (disagree) Usually understood what was going on
Experience of school maths shapes literacy/numeracy

18. Self reported skills …
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Reading Writing Maths
“I have the … skills in English to do my main
job well” (strongly agree)

19. Literacy practices in daily life
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Newspapers Magazine Books Letters, notes, emails
How often do you read or use information from these
sources as part of your daily life? (at least once a week)

20. Which section of the newspaper do you
read?
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Regional or local news National / international news Sports
Home, fasion, food, health Book, film or art reveiws Financial news or stock listing
Editorial page Advice column
Of those that read newspapers at some time, which
sections do they read?

21. Literacy, language and
numeracy is…
handling information
solving a problem Reading
Writing
Maths
getting things done Speaking
Listening
taking part Communicating
Thinking
achieving a goal