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Skills Matter

Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills

In the wake of the technological revolution that began in the last decades of the 20th century, labour market demand for information-processing and other high-level cognitive and interpersonal skills is growing substantially. The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some of these key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in several information-processing skills – namely literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments. This volume reports results from the 24 countries and regions that participated in the first round of the survey in 2011-12 (first published in OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills) and from the nine additional countries that participated in the second round in 2014-15 (Chile, Greece, Indonesia [Jakarta], Israel, Lithuania, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia and Turkey). It describes adults’ proficiency in the three information-processing skills assessed, and examines how skills proficiency is related to labour market and social outcomes. Another related report, The Survey of Adult Skills: Reader’s Companion, Second Edition, describes the design and methodology of the survey and its relationship to other international assessments of young students and adults.

Published on June 28, 2016Also available in: French

In series:OECD Skills Studiesview more titles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword and acknowledgements
Reader's Guide
Executive summary
Overview: Why skills matter
Adults' proficiency in key information-processing skills
The socio-demographic distribution of key information-processing skills
How skills are used in the workplace
The outcomes of investment in skills
Annexes2 chapters available
Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, Tables of results
Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, Additional tables
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