Study: Philly Workers Lack Basic Skills
Updated 10:30 AM EST, Mon, Jun 29, 2009
More than half of the working-age adults in Philadelphia lack the basic reading and arithmetic skills needed to do the majority of jobs in the city, according to a new study.
The average Philadelphia score for reading ability is 260 out of 500, the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board study reported. But most jobs in the city, such as health care technicians, secretaries and security guards, require workers with higher scores, ranging from 277 to 336, labor economist Paul Harrington said.
"If you have low literacy, you have a labor market that doesn't welcome you," Harrington said.
In math, nearly two-thirds of Philadelphia's working-age adults are at or below basic levels, the study showed.
Harrington called Philadelphia "a city of extremes," with jobs ranging from very high to very low literacy. The result, he said, is extremes in incomes, with those with low literacy living in poverty.
"The gaps in earnings have really gotten much broader," he said.
According to 2003 data from the U.S. Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics, Philadelphia is about average among major cities, with 22 percent of working-age adults achieving only the lowest literacy level. New York and Boston are slightly worse and Los Angeles is considerably worse, while the District of Columbia is slightly better and Phoenix and Baltimore are considerably better.
Literacy is key for employment but may be overlooked because job training often focuses on a particular skill, such as welding, rather than basic reading and math, according to Sallie Glickman, chief executive officer of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board.
James Clark, training manager for Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, said he is not surprised by the study's results.
Last year, he said, 313 people applied for the shipyard's apprentice program, but of the 280 who took an entrance test that required basic 10th-grade literacy, only 125 passed.
"I believe there is definitely a literacy problem," he said.
Linking literacy with job requirements at a factory or office, or in a career center, is most effective, Glickman said.
"This is a big problem," she said, "but we can address it. If we can address this, so many other things will be impacted in a positive way."
Copyright Associated Press
First Published: Jun 29, 2009 9:21 AM EST
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