Is literacy the key to a child’s life expectancy?

CHILDREN who grow up in areas with poorer literacy rates have a shorter life expectancy than their peers, a study claims.

The National Literacy Trust, which carried out the research, said there is a ‘staggering’ gap in life expectancy between those in places at the highest and lowest risk of literacy problems.

It found that a boy living in the worst affected area can expect to live 26 years fewer than one living in the best.

The research calculated the chances of low literacy levels in each electoral ward in England, based on factors such as education, employment and income, and split the areas into groups, ranging from the tenth most at risk of literacy problems to the tenth least at risk.

This information was then compared with official data on life expectancy.

It revealed that a boy born in the Stockton Town Centre ward has a life expectancy 26.1 years shorter than a boy born in the North Oxford ward. This was the largest gap for males.

For girls, those born in Queensgate, Burnley, one of the areas most at risk of literacy problems, had a life expectancy around 20.9 years shorter than those born in Mayfield, Wealden in East Sussex.

The study said: ‘ The national gap in life expectancy between children from communities with the highest and lowest vulnerability to literacy problems in the country is staggering.

‘Whilst we recognise that the relationship between literacy and life expectancy is complex, our report finds that people with low levels of literacy are more likely to live in deprived communities, be financially worse off, and have poorer health – all of which are precursors for shorter life spans.

‘The gravity of the extreme local inequalities in mortality makes the challenge to close the literacy gap between communities all the more urgent.’

NLT director Jonathan Douglas said: ‘The relationship between health, socio- economic factors and life expectancy is well established but this is the first time we’ve been able to see how literacy relates to longevity.

‘The relationship is so deeply rooted that children growing up in communities with the most serious literacy problems in the country shockingly have life expectancies 26 years shorter than children from places with the fewest literacy problems.

‘We now know that our efforts to improve the reading and writing skills of children from the poorest communities strike at the heart of inequalities that shorten life expectancy.

‘If we are to truly transform the life chances of the nation’s most disadvantaged children, we must tackle low literacy one community at a time.’

Sir Kevan Collins, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: ‘For some time the link between good literacy levels, fulfilling careers and rewarding lives has been clear.

‘Prospects for children who don’t achieve good literacy skills by the end of primary school are bleak.

‘However, the gap in life expectancy between the areas with the highest and lowest risk of literacy problems highlighted by this report is shocking and warrants closer investigation.

‘We must redouble our efforts to make sure that no child starts secondary school unable to read and write well.

‘ The best way to do this is through the better use of evidence; looking at what has – and has not – worked in the past to give the best chance of success in the future.’