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Illiteracy in British Columbia 1986 August 20 Page 02

Some people think that all undereducated people must live in rural areas. In fact: *59% live in the 6 metropolitan areas in the province with populations over 50,000 - exactly in proportion to these cities' share of the total population (3); furthermore, *in the city of Vancouver, The rate is 17.4%, above the provincial average (4). ~ ie

Aren't most of tnese people unable to learn to read and write anyhow? *Those considered unable to learn are less than 1% of the population

(8).

Don't they all have jobs in manual labour in which they don't need to read and write? In fact: *it's true that - across Canada - in both agriculture and forestry, the rates of undereducation are 29.8%, and, in fishing and trapping, 40.7%; but ‘ *people with 8 or fewer years of schooling are working in all sectors of the economy, e.g. almost 215,000 people in the trade sector, and over 25,000 in finance, insurance and real estate (6).

This might lead people to think that there are plenty of economic opportunities for people with minimal education; but *there are diminishing opportunities for workers in manual occupations that don’t require literacy skills, either for being hired or for doinz the job (think of job applications, training courses, driver's license exams, machinery and safety instructions, and reporting forms). *while many people in BC have suffered economically in recent years, the undereducated have had it worse than most: while the overall unemployment rate has gone froin 8.6% to 14.2%, for the undereducated, it's gone from 9.9% to 20.4%. *given that unemployment rates don't count people who have given up looking for work, am even more revealing statistic is the ratio of employment to population; between 1976 and 1985, the overall ratio in BC dropped fro. 56 to 55.2; for those with 8 or fewer years of schooling, the ratio dropped nearly 11 times as much, from 37.4 to 28.8 L735 *while the median income in 1980 for those with university degrees was $20,625, and for those with high school diplomas $10,910, for thuse with 8 or fewer years of schooling it was $6,619 (8).

Are all of these people in isolation and misery? Well, no. ‘*many people who don't read and write will lead satisfying and effective lives; they are good workers, loving parents, helpful friends and . Neighbours; : ee re ee “*even financially, they're not all (poor: 21,830 had incomes over ~ $25,000 in 1980 (9). ye a

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Nevertheless, many people who don't read and write well; ; *have trouble doing their banking or making.sénse ‘of ‘néwspapers; *may not be retrainable for jobs with changing technology;