The Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey: Age and Literacy
This report is the fourth in a series of four that investigate the initial results of the ALL survey. It presents an overview of New Zealanders’ skills in relation to age, and any changes since 1996.
Author: Paul Satherley and Elliot Lawes [Research Division, Ministry of Education]Date Published: August 2008
3. Age Cohorts
- How did the prose literacy skills of various age cohorts change in the decade after 1996?
This section examines this and similar questions.
Prose and document literacy are singled out for analysis in this section because they are the domains that allow cohort analysis (since they were part of both the IALS and the ALL surveys).
The progress of an age cohort over the decade beginning 1996 is measured by comparing those in a certain age group in IALS (in 1996) with those in an age group 10 years older in ALL (in 2006). The IALS and ALL surveys are not truly longitudinal in design, which would require the same respondents to be re-interviewed over time. However, the cohort analyses in this section provide valid measures of change over time in the populations the two surveys represent. The age groups analysed in this section are the cohorts aged 16−54 years in IALS, which became the cohorts aged 25−65 years in ALL.
Prose literacy and age cohorts
Prose literacy skill was measured by both the IALS and ALL surveys, and its distribution among age cohorts in the New Zealand adult population is shown in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1 Prose literacy and age cohorts, IALS and ALL
Note:
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Figure 3.1 shows that the cohort aged 35−44 years in 2006 made the greatest overall gains in prose literacy skill since 1996. Figure 3.1 also shows that:
- for all age cohorts there were substantial increases in the percentages at level 3, while the percentages at level 2 were relatively stable
- the percentages at level 1 decreased for those aged 25−34 in 2006, decreased substantially for those aged 35−44 or 45−54, and remained relatively stable for those aged 55−65
- the percentages at level 4 or 5 decreased for those aged 25−34 or 45−54 in 2006, remained relatively stable for those aged 35−44 and decreased substantially for those aged 55−65.
Document literacy and age cohorts
Document literacy skill was measured by both the IALS and ALL surveys, and its distribution among age cohorts in the New Zealand adult population is shown in Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2 Document literacy and age cohorts, IALS and ALL
Note:
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Figure 3.2 shows that, as with prose literacy, the cohort aged 35−44 years in 2006 made the greatest overall gains in document literacy skill since 1996. Figure 3.2 also shows that:
- for all age cohorts there were increases in the percentages at level 3, and for those aged 35−44 or 45−54 in 2006 these increases were substantial
- for all age cohorts the percentages at level 2 were relatively stable
- for all age cohorts there were decreases in the percentages at level 1, and for those aged 35−44 or 45−54 in 2006 these decreases were substantial
- the percentages at level 4 or 5 increased for those aged 25−34 or 35−44 in 2006 and remained relatively stable for those aged 45−54 or 55−65 in 2006.