The issues you raise are well taken,  However there is a structural
approach to literacy that attempts to explain why nations with
well-developed welfare stateas show higher levels of literacy overall.
This has much to do with material conditions of life and spending on
education and other familial supports. see except...
----------------------------------------------------------
The Role of Policy in determining the level of literacy within
jurisdictions:

Policy plays a crucial role in affecting levels of literacy across
countries around the world.  Rootman (1991) summarizes the policy
recommendations arising from the LSUDA study.  Among other things, the
study authors recommend that governments: Improve the educational system
for young people; Develop an adult education and training system; Create
policy and funding commitments to ensure adults have access to a variety of
literacy and learning opportunities in their home communities;  Support
public participation in the health care system; Strengthen community health
services; Develop and coordinate public health policies in a variety of
sectors; Ensure information and materials provided by the government are
written in plain language; Provide incentives to organizations that attempt
to make information more accessible to people with low literacy skills;
Encourage and fund projects aimed at increasing accessibility of
information; and,Ensure attention be paid to literacy when health promotion
strategies are developed. (Rootman, 1991, p. 65).

from
Literacy: One of the Most Important Determinants of Health Today
Barbara Ronson and Irving Rootman, in Social Determinants of Health:
Canadian Perspectives.  Toronto Canadian Scholars Press, 2004.

-------------------
Problems/Questions? Send it to Listserv owner: [log in to unmask]


To unsubscribe, send the following message in the text section -- NOT the subject header --  to [log in to unmask]
SIGNOFF SDOH

DO NOT SEND IT BY HITTING THE REPLY BUTTON. THIS SENDS THE MESSAGE TO THE ENTIRE LISTSERV AND STILL DOES NOT REMOVE YOU.

To subscribe to the SDOH list, send the following message to [log in to unmask] in the text section, NOT in the subject header.
SUBSCRIBE SDOH yourfirstname yourlastname

To post a message to all 1000+ subscribers, send it to [log in to unmask]
Include in the Subject, its content, and location and date, if relevant.

For a list of SDOH members, send a request to [log in to unmask]

To receive messages only once a day, send the following message to [log in to unmask]
SET SDOH DIGEST

To view the SDOH archives, go to: http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/sdoh.html