Chapter 4. Skills and social disadvantage 94. All the available evidence suggests that people who live in severely socially disadvantaged areas are disproportionately likely to have low levels of skills, whether these are defined in relation to formal qualifications, the basic skills of literacy and numeracy or other measures. 95. The following national evidence, although much of it is well-known, is particularly striking: schools with higher levels of free school meals uptake have fewer pupils attaining the target levels at every key stage. This polarisation becomes even more evident as children move through the key stages. levels of unauthorised absences are higher in schools in disadvantaged communities. The resulting impact on school achievement is stark. Only 11% of persistent truants obtain 5+ A-Cs compared to 55% of those who have never truanted; there is a close correlation between the local authority areas where the staying-on rate in education and training post-16 is low and areas of social disadvantage(17); a study conducted for the Basic Skills Agency(18) strongly suggested that there was a relatively high concentration of poor basic skills in the most disadvantaged areas. For example, the proportion of adults in each local authority district with very poor literacy skills varied between 9% and 24%. 96. The overall national picture is generally borne out by local research evidence in the study areas we have visited, though there are interesting contrasts between particular areas . For example: In Hemsworth, 69% of ex-miners have no qualifications; 34% of all adult males have problems with literacy and 25% with numeracy. (the equivalent figures for women are 20% and 25% respectively); for unemployed people, the equivalent figures rise to 60% for literacy and 53% for numeracy; 56% of men aged 40+ left school before the age of 16; 97. In Hackney, on the other hand: 27% of people of working age have no qualifications, 30% of people left school at the earliest possible age (the comparable national figure is 62%); 34% of residents have higher level qualifications - this is above even the average for central London; BUT 75% of those who do not have higher or intermediate qualifications have no qualifications at all. The proportion of the population with qualifications equivalent to NVQ 1-2 ("lower") is three times less than the average for central London. 98. In effect, these figures reflect the relative social and economic polarisation of Hackney, where more than 50% of the employed population works in managerial, professional or associate professional occupations, but where 17% of the adult population - much higher on particular estates - has never had a job at all. An apparently "good" set of figures on skills and qualifications masks the fact that a significant minority of the local population is severely disadvantaged. 99. Hemsworth, by contrast, is much more homogeneous; only 19% of the employed population works in managerial, professional or associate professional positions but - despite high levels of worklessness generally - the proportion of the adult population which has never had a job is 12% - significantly lower than in Hackney which apparently has a much better qualified population. That reflects Hemsworth's history as a "company town" dominated by a single industry that employed a majority of the working population 100. These illustrations emphasise the importance of avoiding generalisations about skills in socially disadvantaged areas. Although there are many common problems, there is no single "type" of disadvantaged area. Apart from information derived from some useful local surveys like those covering Hemsworth and Hackney, however, we know little in detail about the levels of adult skills in particular disadvantaged neighbourhoods. 101. Avoiding generalisations is particularly important where ethnic minority people are concerned. According to general figures, people from ethnic minorities are more likely to be involved in further or higher education than whites. If the assumption that better qualifications mean people are more likely to secure employment holds true, one would expect that unemployment among ethnic minority people to be lower than for whites. Yet the opposite is true; ethnic minority people are both more likely to be unemployed and less likely to be employed(19). Economic status by ethnic origin, 1997 Ethnic Origin Employment Rate Unemployment Rate Whites 66 15 All ethnic minority groups 50 25 102. These general figures, however, conceal very significant variations between different ethnic groups: Economic status by ethnic origin, 1997 Ethnic Origin Employment Rate Unemployment Rate Black Caribbean 66 15 Black African 50 25 Indian 65 8 Pakistani 42 21 Bangladeshi 36 23 103. There are similar variations between groups in the figures for participation in full-time education post-16 and in attainment at GCSE. Indians are significantly more likely to stay on in full-time education and obtain better GCSE results than whites, while Black Caribbean young people and Pakistani and Bangladeshi young women are no more likely to stay on than whites. Attainment of 5+A-C grades at GCSE by Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black young people (23%) is significantly worse than for whites (46%). 104. These figures support the argument above that there is an imperfect correlation between the skills that people possess and their success in the labour market and that other factors can be at least as important. In this case, we think the only conceivable explanation is the level of discrimination ethnic minority people encounter in the labour market. This issue is explored in more detail below. 105. Since poor skills have a sapping effect on people's self-confidence, they also reduce individuals' capacity - and their willingness - to act to improve their situation. Adults who are socially disadvantaged are much less likely than the general population to be engaged in learning. 50% of respondents to the National Adult Learning Survey who had not recently been involved in learning said that nothing would persuade them to engage in learning. Respondents falling into this category were disproportionately likely to be socially disadvantaged. 106. Again, there is a general exception to this trend in the case of ethnic minority people who, in the evidence gathered by the National Adult Learning Survey, were significantly more likely than white people to have a positive attitude to learning. 107. The problem of local capacity is exacerbated where, as is often the case, very few residents of disadvantaged areas have higher level qualifications or belong to the more skilled occupational groups. This is often cited in some disadvantaged neighbourhoods - Hemsworth and Peterlee among our study areas - as one of the reasons why it can be so difficult for communities to generate and sustain their own activities. 108. However, that view should be qualified by the evidence from Hackney mentioned above, where the presence of large numbers of highly qualified and well-paid people does not appear to offer significant benefits to those who are not. 109. It does not help that so many of the professionals who work in disadvantaged areas do not live there and that there are therefore no role models of professional attitudes and behaviour for those who grow up locally. This "non-residence" factor also contributes to the common perception of public services - including the individuals responsible for delivering education and training - as an "alien presence" which is not readily capable of coming to terms with the real problems of an area. Data 110. We have already made the point that, unless it is interpreted with care, the available data about educational attainment, qualifications and skills can give a misleading picture of the actual position in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In part, that is because there are significant shortcomings in the quality, detail and coverage of the data that is available, including that which is collected as part of national surveys. 111. There are seven main sources of data about the skills and qualifications that adults have: a) Adult Literacy in Britain surveys the literacy skills of the population of working age; b) the National Adult Learning Survey provides information on adults' involvement in taught learning and self-directed learning; c) the Adult Basic Skills Survey was designed to estimate the level of basic literacy and numeracy skills in England by local authority area; d) the Labour Force Survey provides a wide range of data about income, occupation, qualifications and training; e) the Census provides a large amount of detailed information, which feeds into the Index of Local Deprivation (ILD), a key set of statistics which affects amongst other things financial allocations to local authorities; f) local skills surveys commissioned by TECs and local authorities; g) administrative sources, like the "Client Progress Kit" administered by the Employment Service. 112. None of these sources provide reliable data at the micro-level about the level of adult skills and qualifications and their relationship with employment patterns. In particular: with the exception of c), none of them provide data below the county level. While the Adult Basic Skills Survey gives figures by local authority district, these are based not on hard evidence from each area, but on assumptions about local levels of skill based on geodemographic classifications; the 1991 Census included a question about higher level qualifications only and most of the "skills" data from which the ILD is derived is therefore schools-based. While such data may be have uses as proxy information, it tells us little about the levels of skill in the adult population, especially as we know that, in many areas, there are such important differences between generations; while there are many excellent local surveys - not least covering the PAT's four study areas - it is rarely possible to make robust comparisons between the data available for different areas. 113. The PAT's view is that there is a clear need for better information at ward and perhaps lower levels to inform future strategies for improving adult skills (see recommendation 10). We have commissioned a feasibility study from the University of Warwick to assess the best ways of taking this forward. The results of the study will be known later in the year. Notes 17. Participation in Education and Training by Young People Aged 16 and 17 - Statistical Bulletin 7/99, DfEE, 1999 18. Survey conducted for the Basic Skills Agency by The Opinion Research Business, 1997 19. Labour Market Trends, DfEE, 1998

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