Volume 27, Number 2 (Spring) 1992
Rivera-Batiz, Francisco L. 1992. "Quantitative Literacy and the Likelihood of Employment Among Young Adults in the United States." Journal of Human Resources 27(2):313-328.
This paper examines the effects of quantitative literacy on the likelihood of employment among young adults in the United States. The data set used is the 1985 Young Adult Literacy Assessment Survey. This survey of persons 21 to 25 years old makes available scores achieved by individuals sampled on a test measuring proficiency in the application of arithmetic skills to practical problems encountered every day. We use these scores as one of a set of variables in a probit model explaining the probability of a person being fully employed. It is found that quantitative literacy skills are a major factor raising the likelihood of full-time employment. Furthermore, low quantitative literacy appears to be critical in explaining the lower probability of employment of young Black Americans relative to Whites.
The author is a professor of economics and education at Columbia University. The first version of this paper was written while he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for the National Assessment of Educational Progress in Princeton, New Jersey. He is grateful to William H. Angoff, Eugene Johnson, Robert Mislevy, three anonymous referees, and the participants of seminars at Educational Testing Service and the 1990 American Educational Research Association Meetings in Boston for valuable comments and suggestions. The financial support provided by grants from the Rutgers University Research Council, the Rutgers University Faculty Development Committee and Educational Testing Service is gratefully acknowledged. The data used in this article can be obtained from the author between August 1992 and August 1995 at: Box 75, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
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