Percentage of 16- to 65-year-olds performing at PIAAC literacy or numeracy level 3 or higher, by sex, age group, and high/low income quartile

Sub-categories

Choose categories from the dropdowns below to see different breakdowns of the data. Some will not be available until a higher level is chosen.

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Headline data

Percentage of US persons ages 16 to 65 performing at level 3 or higher of the PIAAC literacy or numeracy measure, by sex, age, and income
Year Value
2012 48

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 2012

Geographical Area:

Unit of Measurement:

Footnote:

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from United States statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from American statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other American-specific metadata information.

Indicator

Percentage of 16- to 65-year-olds performing at PIAAC literacy or numeracy level 3 or higher, by sex, age group, and high/low income quartile
Organisation

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 2012
Unit of measure

Percentage
Data sources

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 2012 - http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/ideuspiaac/
Data providers

Tom Snyder
Comment and limitations

The first round of data collection in the United States (officially known as the U.S. PIAAC Main Study) was conducted from August 2011 through April 2012 with a nationally representative household sample of 5,000 adults between the ages of 16 and 65.
Method of computation

Weighted percentage of 16- to 65-year-olds performing at PIAAC literacy or numeracy level 3 or higher
Actual indicator available - description

PIAAC measures literacy and numeracy in both paper and computer modes. Items that measure problem solving in technology-rich environments are only computer-administered. Reading components tasks are only administered in the paper-and-pencil mode. All participating countries are required to assess the literacy and numeracy domains, but the problem solving and reading components domains are both optional. The United States assessed all four domains. PIAAC tasks developed for all four domains are authentic, culturally appropriate, and drawn from real-life situations that are expected to be of importance or relevance in different contexts. Tasks’ contents and questions are intended to reflect the purposes of adults’ daily lives across cultures, even if they are not necessarily familiar to all adults in all countries.

Variable name Variable label
I4_6_1_literacy_total PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, total
I4_6_1_literacy_male PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, male
I4_6_1_literacy_female PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, female
I4_6_1_literacy_24 PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, 24 or less
I4_6_1_literacy_34 PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, 25 to 34
I4_6_1_literacy_44 PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, 35 to 44
I4_6_1_literacy54 PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, 45 to 54
I4_6_1_literacy_65 PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, 55 to 64
I4_6_1_literacy_lowinc PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, lowest income quartile
I4_6_1_literacy_highinc PIAAC, literacy, level 3 or higher, highest income quartile
I4_6_1_numeracy_total PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, total
I4_6_1_numeracy_male PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, male
I4_6_1_numeracy_female PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, female
I4_6_1_numeracy_24 PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, 24 or less
I4_6_1_numeracy_34 PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, 25 to 34
I4_6_1_numeracy_44 PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, 35 to 44
I4_6_1_numeracy54 PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, 45 to 54
I4_6_1_numeracy_65 PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, 55 or older
I4_6_1_numeracy_lowinc PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, lowest income quartile
I4_6_1_numeracy_highinc PIAAC, numeracy, level 3 or higher, highest income quartile
Date of national source publication

10/2013
Periodicity

About every 10 years
Scheduled update by national source

Unknown
Date metadata updated

10/2016
Disaggregation geography

National
Disaggregation categories

Sex, age group, and income quartile
International and national references

http://piaacgateway.com/
Time period

2012

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator

Indicator 4.6.1: Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex
Target

Target 4.6: By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
Organisation

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Definition and concepts

Definition:

The proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) and of adults (aged 15 years and above) who have achieved or exceeded a fixed level of proficiency in (a) literacy and (b) numeracy.

Concepts:

The fixed level of proficiency (FLP) is the benchmark of basic knowledge in a domain (literacy or numeracy) measured through learning assessments. Currently, the FLP for global reporting is the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) level 2 descriptor.

The concepts of functional literacy and functional numeracy are based on the UNESCO definitions, which cover a continuum of proficiency levels rather than a dichotomy. A person is functionally literate if he/she can engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for the effective functioning of his/her group and community and also which enables them to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his/her own and the community’s development.
Unit of measure

Percent (%)
Data sources

This indicator is collected via skills' assessment surveys of the adult population (e.g., PIAAC, STEP, LAMP[1], RAMAA) and national adult literacy surveys.

1

Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme.

Note: the full forms of PIAAC and STEP can be found in the rest of the document. ↑
Data providers

This indicator is collected via skills national or international assessment surveys of youth and adult populations. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Survey of Adult Skills in its Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the World Bank’s Skills Towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) measurement programme, both based on the PIAAC framework and scale, and bodies responsible for conducting national learning assessments (including Ministries of Education, National Statistical Offices and other data providers) are sources of data of this indicator
Comment and limitations

Functional literacy and numeracy are related to context, thus survey programs need further development in order to frame questions in a way that are meaningful to different economic and social-settings and could be more efficient to reflect population level of skills.
Method of computation

Proportion of youth and adults who have achieved at least a fixed level of proficiency as defined for large-scale (sample representative) adult literacy and numeracy assessments:

P F L P t , a , d =   F L P t , a , d P t , a , d

where:

PFLPt,a,d = the proportion of people in a skills survey in age group a, in year t, who have achieved or exceeded the fixed level of proficiency in domain d.

FLPt,a,d = the number of people in a skills survey in age group a, in year t, who have achieved or exceeded the fixed level of proficiency in domain d.

Pt,a,d = the total number of people in age group a, in year t, who participated in the skills survey of domain d.

a = 16-65 years (youth and adults).

d = the domain which was assessed (literacy or numeracy).
Metadata update

2022-03-31
International organisations(s) responsible for global monitoring

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
Related indicators

1.2, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.7, 4.5, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 8.5, 8.6, 8.b, 10.2, 12.8, 13.3, 13.b
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