Canadian literacy is worsening, and that should matter for advisors

Why Canadian literacy is flagging

Valcin says that the causes of declining literacy in Canada are myriad, but that lower literacy rates are disproportionately found among people of lower socioeconomic standing. Families stuck in the intergenerational cycle of poverty also suffer from a cycle of low literacy. People stretched by a lack of resources, a lack of time, and a lack of energy may struggle to provide their children with the educational supports necessary to advance their literacy.

Canada’s provincial public education systems are strong, Valcin says, but they are stretched by a need to be everything to everyone. Some students fall through the cracks, especially if they lack the additional support from their families and communities.

Those socioeconomic roots sit under layers of accreted technological changes that, if managed poorly, detract from reading, numeracy, and critical literacy skills. The long and deep attention spans required to engage with these practices and skills are exchanged for rapid stimulus from tech devices.

The worsening state of literacy isn’t just bad for the publishing and news industry. Valcin says that literacy should be described as “Big L literacy” and encompass a range of skills including numeracy, financial literacy, and critical media literacy. As that wider set of literacy skills decline, individuals, communities, and societies face greater risks. Individuals lose capacity to move up the socio-economic ladder and break the cycle of poverty. Communities lose civic participants and potential leaders. Societies lose the public engagement that keeps leaders accountable and economies responsive to public need. Advisors, Valcin says, lose the next generation of potential entrepreneurs, high earners, and clients.

Why advisors should care about literacy

“A lot of the young people that might be struggling in school right now because they have lower literacy and numeracy skills will still become adults that will enter the job market and might one day become a client,” Valcin says, when asked why advisors should pay attention to declining literacy rates.