News
Failure to tackle poor literacy is threatening action on child poverty
16 May 2011
A new National Literacy Trust report published today highlights the level of literacy need across the country and the gap in local response. Published in the report, a survey of 500 local service providers including community and voluntary organisations, health practitioners, childcare providers and children’s centres found that:
- 75% of services meet parents with literacy difficulties
- 48% rarely or never signpost these parents to support for themselves and 54% rarely or never signpost them to support for their children
- 35% of services rarely or never talk to parents about how they could support their children’s literacy development
The findings are revealed today in a new National Literacy Trust report: Local authorities improving life chances: A review of a new approach to raising literacy levels. The report describes how innovative approaches to supporting literacy in disadvantaged communities have addressed the issues raised by the survey results and benefitted children and families across the UK.
The Child Poverty Act 2010 places legal obligations on councils to tackle child poverty. This study will provide inspiration for how local areas can meet this challenge in the coming years. The Government’s recently published strategies on child poverty and social mobility highlight the gap in educational attainment as a key factor, while a new emphasis on early language development and school readiness at age five also underlines the importance of literacy in delivering on child poverty.
Emily McCoy, Communities and Local Areas Manager at the National Literacy Trust says:
“The Government sees entrenched poverty as resting on low achievement, low aspiration and low opportunity across generations. Literacy has a vital role to play in addressing all three. Research shows that literacy skills do not just enable educational attainment; they underpin strong family relationships, better health choices and an individual’s capacity (and confidence) to gain employment.
“Our report clearly raises the question - how can local areas tackle child poverty without an explicit focus on literacy? We want to raise greater awareness both locally and nationally and ensure local areas have the tools they need to tackle literacy. A recent report* showed that local councils want more guidance on reducing child poverty. We believe the approaches outlined in Local authorities improving life chances will be a valuable asset. This October Frank Field MP will lead our conference on child poverty which will extend the debate and provide policy updates and best practice examples of how local areas have tackled the issue across their communities.”
Read the full media release here.
