Multi-faceted benefits of

investment in lifelong learning

Tom Schuller

UIL workshop

Hamburg, 23 November 2010

Key relationships linking learning, competence and capital

formation

F

i

g

u

r

e

2

.

1

.

Working life

Social &

civic life

Home, family

& leisure life

Lifelong

Life

wid

e

Adult

learning

contexts

------------------•Adult education

•Firm training

•Informal learning

Initial formal

education

Lifelong-lifewide learning

Private

monetary

outcomes

Private

non-monetary

outcomes

Public

monetary

outcomes

Public

non-monetary

outcomes

Complex interactive and dynamic process over time

Economic and social

outcomesHuman capital

Social capital

Competencies

LL and economic effects NB a) Individual and societal levels

b) Non-linear

Employment

Productivity

Income

“ Measuring the size of these wider benefits

of learning is an important research

priority, where progress requires better

measures of people’s characteristics in a

range of domains and surveys that follow

the same individual over time.”

Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi 2009, p47

Total public and private expenditure on adult (18+)

learning provision (£ billion), 2007-08

Human Capital

Identity Capital Social Capital

Schuller et al The Benefits of Learning

The Interaction of Capitals:

dependent, independent or interdependent?

Bonding

Bridging

Linking

Source: Michael Woolcock, Harvard & World

Bank

Two-way multi-level impacts

Impact

Individual

Family/Community

National

Healthy and civic

behaviours, identity

Social capital and neighbourhoods

Cohesion, inequality and environment

Impact of Education -Pathways

Attributes

- Knowledge, skills and

non-cognitive traits

Resources

- Income

- Access to networks

Social status

- Occupational status

- Educational status

- Peer status

Lifestyles

(Exercise)

Diet

Obesity/BMI

Mental

Health

Drinking

Individual Health related

behaviours

Health outcomes

determinants

Education

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

USA France UK Italy Japan OECDAverage

Education (2004)

Health (2005)

% of GDP

Education and Health Expenditures (Public and Private)

Public expenditures on

Health (OECD average)

Public expenditures on

Education (OECD average)

LL and health

• Taking 1 or 2 courses as adults estimated to

increase the chances of giving up smoking

by 14%

• Taking women with no qualifications to

Level 2 reduces risks of depression at age

42 by 15%

• Adults taking leisure courses more likely to

increase membership of sports centres

• AL appears to slow development of

Alzeimers disease

Public Value analysis

• simple logic

• transparent and modest assumptions

• empirical evidence as available

• sensitivity analysis, showing range

• some outcomes a) not quantifiable, b) not

susceptible to monetarisation

PVA : mental health

• Estimated cost to employers of mental ill-

health: £25 bn (Sainsbury Centre)

• Empirical evidence from longitudinal data

on impact on mental health of raising

educational level of women with no

qualifications (Chevalier & Feinstein)

• Sensitivity analysis essential

PVA : crime

• Annual cost per prisoner: £40K

• Reoffending costs est. at £11-13bn

• Assumptions: participation in learning

reduces recidivism by a) 2%, b) 5%; allow

for fixed costs, so 1% and 2.5% saving.

• Net savings: £130m/325m

• NB Excludes all external benefits

Family Man & Fathers Inside

Safe Ground manage the HM Prison

Service programmes Family Man

and Fathers Inside.

Both programmes use drama, role

play, group and portfolio work to

encourage male prisoners to

recognise their responsibilities to

their family.

Safe Ground / HMPS 'Family Man' &

'Fathers Inside' copyright 2010

Programme Success

Safe Ground / HMPS 'Family Man' &

'Fathers Inside' copyright 2010

Safe Ground track the progress of

students before and after participation.

Over 3500 students have graduated

from the FM/FI programmes

Almost 8,000 qualifications have

been awarded across the Network,

95% of our graduates were engaged

in useful activity compared to 69%

before starting FM/FI

Intergenerational relationships

Individual

Sustaining

Collective/community

Transforming

Personal change Self-maintenance

Social fabric Community activism

The effects of learning

Key relationships linking learning, competence and capital

formation

F

i

g

u

r

e

2

.

1

.

Working life

Social &

civic life

Home, family

& leisure life

Lifelong

Life

wid

e

Adult

learning

contexts

------------------•Adult education

•Firm training

•Informal learning

Initial formal

education

Lifelong-lifewide learning

Private

monetary

outcomes

Private

non-monetary

outcomes

Public

monetary

outcomes

Public

non-monetary

outcomes

Complex interactive and dynamic process over time

Economic and social

outcomesHuman capital

Social capital

Competencies

Conclusions

• Maintain the focus on outcomes

• Blend the economic and the social

• Not just broadening but lengthening

• Include distributional issues

www.lifelonglearninginquiry.org.uk

Tom.schuller@longviewuk.com