London, Dec 13 (IANS) One in four adults in Britain has maths skills of a nine-year-old or worse, and struggles with the most basic everyday sums, a survey has found.
The “Skills For Life” survey found that more than eight million adults lack even basic numeracy skills, the Daily Mail reported.
These people have difficulty in understanding price labels and sums involved in paying household bills.
A further nine million adults have maths skills expected of a child aged nine to 11.
Those in this group are likely to struggle in calculating change, using train timetables or working out deductions on their pay slip.
The survey revealed that 49 percent of working-age adults – about 17 million in total – have maths skills of a child at primary school.
The number was 15 million in 2003, when a similar survey was conducted.
The survey, which questioned 7,200 people aged 16 to 65, also revealed that more than five million adults – 15 percent of the working population – struggle with simple reading and writing.
The Department for Business, which released the 400-page report, admitted that English and maths skills had “a long way to go”.
