One in ten adults encounter difficulties with writing, according to INSEE

This represents four million people in France, and the vast majority of those who already have difficulty with writing also have difficulty with calculation, according to a study published Monday by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.

In 2022, in France, 10% of people aged 18 to 64 experience difficulties in at least one of the three fundamental areas of writing, according to a study by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) , published Monday April 22. This represents 4 million people. 8% of adults even have serious difficulties with writing. In detail, 5% of adults have difficulties in reading words, 9% in producing written words and 10% in understanding a simple text. Furthermore, 12% of adults encounter calculation difficulties. And the vast majority of those who already have difficulty with writing also have difficulty with arithmetic (62%).

If INSEE notes relatively small gaps between women (10%) and men (11%), this is not the same thing for the calculation. In fact, women more often have calculation difficulties (15%) than men (9%).

These difficulties are also more pronounced for older generations. 6% of 18-24 year olds experience difficulties with writing, compared to 14% of 55-64 year olds. These differences can be explained, according to INSEE, by the fact that younger generations “have had longer education and are more qualified than the oldest”. On the other hand, the gap is narrowing in calculations, with 10% of 18-24 year olds in difficulty compared to 15% of 55-64 year olds. For INSEE, this confirms other studies which warn about the results in “withdrawal for recent generations of students, at the end of primary or secondary school”.

Impact of diploma level

The study also ensures that “residents of priority neighborhoods of city policy and overseas departments more often have difficulties with writing (32%) and calculations (31%)” than adults living outside these areas (8% for writing and 10% for arithmetic). INSEE explains that this gap is due to the higher proportions of people not educated in these neighborhoods, where more people who are illiterate or people with little or no qualifications live. For these same reasons, one in four residents of the French Overseas Departments (overseas departments) have difficulty with writing and three in 10 with arithmetic (compared to one in 10 in France).

Mastery of writing and arithmetic remains linked to the level of qualifications of both the person and their parents. 19% of people whose parents have few or no qualifications have difficulty with writing compared to 3% of people whose parents have a higher education diploma. In calculation, the gap is approximately the same with 19% versus 4% respectively.

“35% of people with few or no qualifications have difficulty with writing or arithmetic, while the proportion of people with higher education qualifications in difficulty is marginal.”

These problems are not without consequences in everyday life. This helps, for example, to limit internet use. 83% of people who have difficulty with writing used the internet in the three months preceding the survey, compared to 97% of all adults. “A quarter of people experiencing difficulties, with writing or arithmetic, believe that the Internet complicates administrative procedures, i.e. 10 points more than for the general population.” In fact, 61% of people with writing difficulties carried out an administrative process themselves during the twelve months preceding the survey, compared to 85% in the entire population. And when they carry out these procedures themselves, 42% use the internet, compared to 79% of adults on average.

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Methodology: The “Lifelong training” survey was carried out by INSEE and Dares (Directorate for the Animation of Research, Studies and Statistics) face-to-face between September 2022 and March 2023. The “skills” component, on which this study focuses, was offered to nearly 16,200 people aged 18 to 64 residing in France.