Report on the Final Phase of the 1st Cycle of PIAAC Survey Released

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 (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.

Andreas Schleicher,  Director of the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills, presented the findings from Skills Matter – Additional Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, the OECD’s latest report on the final phase of the 1st cycle of the survey on November 15th.

This report expands on the data and analysis in previous reports on PIAAC by including data from six additional countries (Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States) that conducted the survey in 2017-18. The results show that poor skills severely limit people’s access to better-paying and more rewarding jobs and that the distribution of skills also has significant implications for how the benefits of economic growth are shared within societies. Additionally, the results find that skills affect not just earnings and employment but also levels of well-being of adult populations across participating countries.