Basic skills, soft skills and labour market outcomes: secondary analysis of the National Child Development Study

Previous research has shown that basic numeracy and literacy skills have important positive effects on individuals' labour market outcomes. However, the impact of 'soft skills' were not taken into account. There is concern that if individuals with better basic skills also have better 'soft skills', then some of the benefits of literacy and numeracy that were identified in earlier research may be attributable to individuals having better soft skills. A second area of concern is that previous research did not directly investigate whether improving adults' basic skills would also improve their labour market outcomes. The study aims to investigate whether the literacy and numeracy test scores in the National Child Development Study (NCDS) are correlated with 'soft skills' that were excluded from previous research but which also have a positive impact on individuals' labour market outcomes, and whether individuals who have measurably improved their basic skills since the age of 16 earn more because of their higher skills. Show less