Thank you very much, and thank you, Sherry, for that wonderful lead-in to my follow-up comments on literacy. We have some recommendations that will build on those fabulous points.
My name is Margaret Eaton, as mentioned. I'm president of ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation, and it's a great pleasure to be here to address this really crucial issue.
I'm also going to speak about those tremendous connections between adult literacy and poverty. The two really are inextricably linked. If we can raise adult literacy levels, we will definitely raise Canadians out of poverty.
As Sherry pointed out, the recession is taking a terrible toll right now. As unemployment rises, there are waiting lists across the country—sometimes months long—for Canadians to enter literacy programs. The gap between the skills of a line worker in manufacturing and the skills they require for a job outside that sector is, for many, immense. Literacy is a foundational skill, and by literacy I mean the reading, writing, and math skills necessary to participate in daily activities at home, at work, and in the community to achieve one's goals.
According to international assessments, about 42% of Canadians are at low literacy. That means they fall below a high school level, which is the internationally recognized standard for where we should be to participate in the knowledge economy. Some of those people are at high levels of income, but a great percentage are not.
As Sherry pointed out, low literacy is absolutely correlated with low income. This group is less likely to be employed than groups at higher levels of literacy. It's just harder to find and keep a job. Without literacy skills, the chances of raising yourself out of poverty are much lower. We're worried that many Canadians in this current recession don't have the skills they need as this economy shifts.
We've seen the decline in manufacturing and the squeeze in forestry and mining. These places all provided high-income jobs, in some cases, for people with very low literacy skills. And they're having a tremendous time making the switch. We also know that jobs are requiring higher levels of skills. For example, the trucking industry used to be a wonderful refuge in some places for people with low literacy, but even trucking companies are now requiring drivers to participate in inventory management. They have on-board computer systems they have to manage.
Many Canadians are going to need to retrain and upgrade their skills to compete in this changing labour market.
We recently asked Ipsos Reid to sample Canadian workers about their own levels of literacy. We asked them whether, if they were to lose their jobs today, they possess the necessary literacy skills to secure a new job. Fully 21% of Canadians are concerned to some degree that they don't have those necessary literacy skills.
Along with that, we also need to look at financial literacy and numeracy skills among those with low skills. As we saw in the fallout from the mortgage issue in the U.S., which we're feeling a little bit in Canada, financial illiteracy was a huge contributing factor. These skills can also help raise people out of poverty.
As Sherry also said, the literacy level of children is absolutely correlated with the literacy level of the parents. If we're going to break the cycle of low literacy, we must address adult literacy.
In our Ipsos Reid study we also asked who is responsible for improving the skills of Canadians. Most believe, of course, that it's up to individuals to improve their own skills, but it appears that they aren't expected to do it on their own. Four in ten believe that an individual's place of work has an important role to play. But seven out of ten Canadians also believe that the government should contribute to improving adult literacy. That is, the vast majority of Canadians want their government to take a role in supporting adults in improving their skills.
We recommend that Canada develop a poverty strategy and that as a key plank of that strategy it create a literacy and essential skills strategy to ensure that Canadians have the skills they need to compete in the present and future workplace. Skills and employment are key elements in lifting Canadians out of poverty and for ensuring that they stay out of poverty. I appreciated John's comments about the notion of an economic strategy, because this is really an economic issue. I believe this committee could really take a leadership role in defining a large strategy that could address many planks of the concerns raised today.
What role can the federal government play? We believe the federal government can play a strong role in providing leadership in the creation and implementation of the national poverty strategy, with a key part being a national literacy strategy. By convening the provinces, territories, and literacy stakeholders, we can create that national strategy. It can provide a unified and principled approach to literacy, eliminate that patchwork of services that exists across the country, and provide real standards.
The federal government can create a vision and goals for the country, matching our workforce to the needs of a global economy.
Raising the literacy levels of Canadians means that everyone has access to a good-paying job. That has a huge impact on the quality of life for individuals. Higher literacy is correlated with better health, higher income, and higher civic participation. Higher literacy also means a country with a workforce that can compete in what is increasingly an international labour market. Increasing skills and reducing poverty has a far-reaching economic impact on our country.
Our competitiveness, our productivity, and our creativity depend upon a foundation of solid literacy and numeracy skills as a key plank in reducing poverty.
Thank you.