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<p>The Skills for Life Survey 2011 showed no notable difference between the levels
of literacy of men and women:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Literacy
levels by gender (%)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Literacy
Level</strong></p></td><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Gender</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>All</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Male</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Female</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Entry
Level 1 or below</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Entry
Level 2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Entry
Level 3</p></td><td><p>/8</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Level
1</p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Level
2 or above</p></td><td><p>57</p></td><td><p>54</p></td><td><p>59</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Unweighted
base</p></td><td><p>5824</p></td><td><p>2520</p></td><td><p>3304</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>(Skills
for Life Survey 2011)</p><p> </p><p>For both women and men, poor literacy is associated
with higher rates of unemployment and poorer health and well-being. We do not have
evidence to suggest that illiteracy affects women any more than men.</p><p> </p><p>This
Government nevertheless understands the importance of English for all adults and has
made this subject a priority for support within the adult skills system. An example
of this is the Government-funded English and ESOL programmes, which include more female
than male learners:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>English
and maths participation figures 2014/15</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>English
</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>ESOL</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total
Learners</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>668,600</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>131,100</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Gender</strong></p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Female</p></td><td><p>379,700</p></td><td><p>88,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Male</p></td><td><p>289,000</p></td><td><p>43,100</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p>(Statistical First Release – first published January 2014)</p><p> </p><p>We
are undertaking a range of research to better understand where Government investment
in English and maths has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. This includes:
using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English
and maths and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course, through
our partnership with the Behavioural Research Centre for Adult Skills and Knowledge
(ASK); longitudinal research into skills gain and skills atrophy of adult English
and maths learners; and a comparison of the impact of blended and more traditional
classroom learning.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p>
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