IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ozl/journl/v27y2024i1p27-72.html

Literacy and numeracy skills and life-course outcomes: Evidence from PIAAC and linked administrative data

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Meehan

    (Auckland University of Technology)

  • Gail Pacheco

    (Auckland University of Technology)

  • Thomas Schober

    (Auckland University of Technology)

Abstract

This paper examines the life-course trajectories of NZ adults across different literacy and numeracy skill levels. This is done by using skill information for the working-age adult population (aged 16-65 years) collected in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). This sample is then linked with administrative data to track their life-course outcomes from 2008 to 2020. The outcomes of the one-fifth of NZ working-age adults who were assessed at below Level 2 in either literacy or numeracy (or both) are compared with those at or above this baseline. It finds that adults with low measured skills have less favourable outcomes in a number of areas. They have lower rates of educational attainment, lower employment rates and average earnings, higher rates of hospitalisation, and higher rates of criminal offending and convictions. In addition, outcomes for M?ori and Pacific peoples in both the low-skills and above-baseline groups are generally less favourable than those of their NZ European counterparts. For example, even among those with above-baseline skills, M?ori and Pacific peoples have lower average earnings than NZ Europeans. These results provide a quantifiable evidence base regarding the role of literacy and numeracy skills with respect to a range of wellbeing outcomes over the course of an individual’s life.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Meehan & Gail Pacheco & Thomas Schober, 2024. "Literacy and numeracy skills and life-course outcomes: Evidence from PIAAC and linked administrative data," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 27(1), pages 27-72.
    • Handle: RePEc:ozl:journl:v:27:y:2024:i:1:p:27-72
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ajle.org/index.php/ajle_home/article/view/215
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Desjardins & Arne Jonas Warnke, 2012. "Ageing and Skills: A Review and Analysis of Skill Gain and Skill Loss Over the Lifespan and Over Time," OECD Education Working Papers 72, OECD Publishing.
    2. Cain Polidano & Chris Ryan, 2017. "What Happens to Students with Low Reading Proficiency at 15? Evidence from Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(303), pages 600-614, December.
    3. Per-Anders Edin & Magnus Gustavsson, 2008. "Time Out of Work and Skill Depreciation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(2), pages 163-180, January.
    4. Francesca Borgonovi & Álvaro Choi & Marco Paccagnella, 2018. "The evolution of gender gaps in numeracy and literacy between childhood and adulthood," OECD Education Working Papers 184, OECD Publishing.
    5. Emma Gorman & Grant M Scobie & Andy Towers, 2012. "Health and Retirement of Older New Zealanders," Treasury Working Paper Series 12/02, New Zealand Treasury.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maëlle Della Peruta & Dominique Torre, 2013. "Virtual social currencies for unemployed people: social networks and job market access," Working Papers halshs-00856480, HAL.
    2. Albæk, Karsten, 2016. "A Test of the ?Use it or Lose It? Hypothesis in Labour Markets around the World/Una prueba de la hipótesis "usarlo o perderlo" en los mercados de trabajo del mundo," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 34, pages 323-352, Mayo.
    3. Karsten Albæk, 2015. "A test of the ‘lose it or use it’ hypothesis in labour markets around the world," Working Papers 2015/24, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    4. Jie Chen, 2006. "The Dynamics of Housing Allowance Claims in Sweden: A Discrete Time-Hazard Analysis," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 1-29.
    5. Oskar Skans & Linus Liljeberg, 2014. "The wage effects of subsidized career breaks," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 593-617, September.
    6. Barrett, Garry F. & Riddell, W. Craig, 2019. "Ageing and Skills: The Case of Literacy Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 12073, IZA Network @ LISER.
    7. Biewen, Martin & Fitzenberger, Bernd & de Lazzer, Jakob, 2017. "Rising Wage Inequality in Germany: Increasing Heterogeneity and Changing Selection into Full-Time Work," IZA Discussion Papers 11072, IZA Network @ LISER.
    8. Tirthatanmoy Das & Solomon W. Polachek, 2015. "Unanticipated Effects Of California'S Paid Family Leave Program," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(4), pages 619-635, October.
    9. Steinar Strøm & Alessandra Venturini & Claudia Villosio, 2013. "Wage assimilation: migrants versus natives and foreign migrants versus internal migrants," RSCAS Working Papers 2013/30, European University Institute.
    10. Kenneth Snellman, 2007. "The long-term effects of the depression on the labour market outcomes for nurses," Working Papers 226, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    11. Fredriksson, Peter & Johansson, Per, 2004. "Dynamic Treatment Assignment – The Consequences for Evaluations Using Observational Data," IZA Discussion Papers 1062, IZA Network @ LISER.
    12. Ortego-Marti, Victor, 2017. "Loss of skill during unemployment and TFP differences across countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 215-235.
    13. Vladimir Gimpelson, 2019. "Age and Wage: Stylized Facts and Russian Evidence," HSE Economic Journal, National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 185-237.
    14. Jessen, Jonas & Kinne, Lavinia & Battisti, Michele, 2026. "Child penalties in labour market skills," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    15. Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2011. "The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 89-200, Elsevier.
    16. Piotr Lewandowski & Roma Keister & Wojciech Hardy & Szymon Gorka, 2017. "Routine and ageing? The Intergenerational Divide In The Deroutinisation Of Jobs In Europe," IBS Working Papers 01/2017, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    17. Ken-ichi Hashimoto & Ryonghun Im, 2019. "Asset bubbles, labour market frictions and R&D-based growth," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(2), pages 822-846, May.
    18. Lewandowski, Piotr & Keister, Roma & Hardy, Wojciech & Górka, Szymon, 2020. "Ageing of routine jobs in Europe," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(4).
    19. Pullman, Ashley & Gauly, Britta & Lechner, Clemens M., 2021. "Short-term earnings mobility in the Canadian and German context: the role of cognitive skills," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 55(55), pages 1-.10.
    20. Tumino, Alberto, 2015. "The scarring effect of unemployment from the early ‘90s to the Great Recession," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-05, Institute for Social and Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ozl:journl:v:27:y:2024:i:1:p:27-72. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sandie Rawnsley (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/becurau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.