The social costs of inadequate literacy: A report for International Literacy Year

 

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Content type
Research report
Published

December 1989

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Overview

This report aims to bring together information, anecdotal material, the results of research and some informed speculation across a range of different areas in order to present as broad a picture as possible of the social costs of inadequate literacy skills in Australia. The report first outlines the crucial elements of current definitions of literacy which recognise the social dimension as important. Implications of the notion 'social cost' are then discussed together with some of the difficulties of determining, and certainly of measuring, such costs resulting from inadequate literacy skills. Social costs in the areas of citizenship and social life, families, health, consumer rights, employment and unemployment, occupational health and safety, crime, and social welfare, are then outlined. Separate chapters consider the social costs of illiteracy for Aborigines and for rural communities.

Contents

  • FOREWORD
  • PREFACE
  • ACKNOWLEDGMENT
  • SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
  • INTRODUCTION
    • Description
    • Outline
  • LITERACY
    • Literacy and English as a second language
  • SOCIAL COST
    • What is social cost?
    • Determining and measuring social costs of inadequate literacy
  • CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL LIFE
    • The social costs
  • LITERACY AND FAMILIES
    • The social costs family relationships
    • The social costs relationship between parents' and children's literacy levels
  • LITERACY AND HEALTH
    • The social costs
  • LITERACY AND CONSUMER RIGHTS
    • The social costs 
  • LITERACY AND THE TYRANNY OF ' OFFICIAL' LANGUAGE
    • The social costs 
    • Benefits of Plain English 
  • LITERACY AND THE LABOUR FORCE
    • The social costs 
    • The search for a job
    • Costs on the job 
    • Occupational health and safety
    • Literacy and rehabilitation
  • UNEMPLOYMENT
    • The social costs
  • LITERACY AND CRIME
    • The social costs
  • LITERACY AND SOCIAL WELFARE
    • The social costs
  • LITERACY AND ABORIGINES
    • The social costs
  • LITERACY AND RURAL COMMUNITIES
    • The social costs
  • REDUCING THE SOCIAL COSTS
    • The need for public education and awareness
    • Providing opportunities for literacy learning
  • PEOPLE CONSULTED FOR THE STUDY
  • LIST OF REFERENCES
ISBN

0-644-10734-0

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