The coexistence of literacy challenges and low income is giving rise to a perfect social storm in certain regions of Quebec, reveals a study by the Literacy Foundation unveiled on Tuesday. It highlights the existence of a hard core of the population within which these problems will be even more difficult to solve. In Quebec, therefore, 6% of the population aged 15 and over, or nearly 400,000 people, is affected by this double obstacle.
The latest detailed results from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) reveal that 53% of Quebecers aged 16 to 65 do not reach level 3 in literacy. Economist Pierre Langlois, author of the study Literacy in Quebec. A local perspective on the issueswent further by linking the phenomenon to economic poverty.
“If I have difficulty each month meeting my basic economic needs, I cannot, as an individual or as a household, find the time or energy necessary to upgrade my base or, even better, embark on a process of professional requalification,” explains Mr. Langlois. The two phenomena feed off each other, creating a spiral of social and economic precariousness from which we cannot escape without external help.
It is by correlating the results of PIAAC (2012) with data from the last Canadian census (2016) from the perspective of a double factor of economic and social poverty, including the level of literacy, that the economist proposes an “index of great vulnerability”, capable of estimating and situating the affected populations.
“By cross-referencing data, we realize that in several regions of Quebec, there are rates that are really alarming,” explains André Huberdeau, president of the Literacy Foundation. For some cities and some neighborhoods, the index exceeds 10%, notably in Montreal North, in the Saint-Michel and Parc-Extension neighborhoods as well as in the cities of Joliette, Shawinigan and Lachute.
For Mr. Huberdeau, these kinds of literacy levels “leave room for a lot of opinions, but few facts”. “If we are not able to receive an opinion and validate it through our readings, we become a very impressionable society,” he specifies. This is not necessarily a good thing in a democracy. »
An urban phenomenon
Although the phenomenon also exists in the regions, it is mainly urban and linked to disadvantaged neighborhoods. “It’s all the socio-economic issues of these neighborhoods that are transposed into the data,” explains Mr. Langlois.
For 2016, the high vulnerability index for Montreal is estimated at 8.76%, or 2.74 percentage points higher than the Quebec average. This rate represents a population of 122,469 Montrealers living in a situation of great vulnerability. Given the socio-demographic composition of the various boroughs, sectors and neighborhoods of the city, Montréal-Nord, Saint-Léonard–Saint-Michel and Parc-Extension–Villeray show higher rates.
In Quebec City, the results are more uniform than in Montreal, and the high vulnerability index is lower there. It is estimated that 4.60% of the population aged 15 and over in the national capital is in a situation of great vulnerability, or 20,286 individuals. However, it is in the borough of Beauport and part of La Cité-Limoilou that we find the highest concentration, with 7.58%, or 6,060 individuals.
Large suburban cities, such as Terrebonne, Brossard, Repentigny, Blainville, Saint-Eustache, Mascouche or Boucherville, have vulnerability indices well below the Quebec average. The high vulnerability index estimated for Boucherville, for example, is close to 1%. A similar result can be observed in major English-speaking cities such as Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Pointe-Claire.
“You have to understand that this phenomenon is multifaceted. To respond to these problems, it takes programs and approaches that deal with the different aspects — income security, human capital, literacy — as a whole,” reports Mr. Langlois.
The conclusion of the study proposes in particular an intersectoral approach that could be advocated in Quebec. In this sense, Mr. Huberdeau hopes “that from this data, groups will take charge to find solutions at the local level”. “It takes community consciousness,” he adds.