Basic skills and social exclusion : findings from a study of adults born in 1970

Abstract

This [UK] study explores the circular relationship between poor basic skills and social exclusion. Drawing on performance data from a reading test at age 10, it examines whether poor readers at a high level of social exclusion risk continue to experience social exclusion at age 16 and age 30 in comparison to their peers. The data suggests that poor reading has more impact on the social exclusion process for girls, whereas early experience of social exclusion has more impact in later life for boys.