Study highlights benefit of training to tackle literacy and numeracy problems

Unemployed people with literacy problems respond better to training and often 'sign off' the Live Register sooner as a result of having received it, according to a new study from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

The study, entitled Literacy, Numeracy and Activation Among the Unemployed, investigates the experiences of unemployed people with literacy and/or numeracy difficulties.

It shows that people who are unemployed and have such difficulties are more likely to become long-term unemployed.

However, they are not more likely to be in receipt of Government-sponsored training under the National Employment Action Plan.

Where training is received, the recipient did benefit by much more than average.

Research Analyst with the ESRI Elish Kelly says the extent of literacy and numeracy problems among the unemployed has not yet been looked at.

"Not much research has been undertaken on this particular group in the past," she said.

"The last study was the International Adult Literacy Survey which was… in the late 1990s.

"But that didn't focus specifically on the unemployed.

"This is the first piece of work that zones in on this particular group."