Uncertain economy, lack of literacy leave 400000 Quebecers vulnerable: study - Montreal Gazette

Training programs could result in a recurrent injection of about $1 billion into Quebec's gross domestic product, the study suggests.

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La Presse Canadienne

The study finds that a lack of basic skills are a brake on employability, salary progressions and academic and vocational training. Photo by CLAUDIA MORALES /REUTERS

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Rising inflation and a labour shortages have placed 400,000 Quebecers with poor reading skills in an extremely vulnerable economic situation, a study published Tuesday concludes.

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The study, conducted by economist Pierre Langlois for the Literacy Foundation, found that the convergence of economic challenges and a lack of literacy skills have created a perfect storm of vulnerability for about six per cent of the province’s population 15 and older, about 400,000 people.

The study finds that a lack of basic skills are a brake on employability, salary progressions and academic and vocational training. Meanwhile, those living in a low income situation find it impossible, without some form of financial support, to find the resources or time for adult education or job training.

Langlois says that one issue feeds the other, creating a spiral of economic and social uncertainty.

Among the 50 most populous regions of Quebec, the vulnerability index stands at 13.36 per cent in Joliette, 11.96 per cent in Lachute and 9.66 per cent in Shawinigan. The study explains that the index is based the factors of uncertain income security and lower literacy results for those 16-65.

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Suburban municipalities such as Terrebonne, Brossard, Repentigny, Blainville, St-Eustache, Mascouche or Boucherville registered vulnerability indices well below the provincial average. In Boucherville, for example, the index stands at just one per cent. Similar results were found in cities and towns with large anglophone populations such as Pointe-Claire and Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

Langlois argues that a basic skills program combined with one of financial support would allow 176,000 people between the ages of 20 an d 59 to free themselves from social and economic poverty. He adds that such a reduction in the number of the province’s most economically vulnerable would result in a recurrent injection of about $1 billion into Quebec’s gross domestic product.

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Uncertain economy, lack of literacy leave 400000 Quebecers vulnerable: study - Montreal Gazette
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