A Study of the Relationship between Family Income and Literacy Level

Abstract

Many socioeconomic factors influence the literacy rate in Pakistan. Poverty is known to be the main factor considered to have coexisted with low literacy skills and under achievements. There is an established link between poverty and illiteracy in developing countries. Poverty forces people into child labor, which produces illiteracy and these illiterates are forced to take low-income jobs that produce poverty. Thus, poverty and illiteracy have a cyclical relationship. The study was launched to further probe the link between family income and the acquisition of literacy skills. The main aim of the study was to: examine the co-occurrence of family income and participants’ learning achievement level; and to explore the role of income on participants’ literacy skills and to recommend certain measures to improve literacy. The study was descriptive, and the survey method was adopted to gather data from the people of the District of Bahawalpur. Two types of research tools were employed in the current study. The first tool was adapted by the Lao National Literacy Survey 2001, which was based on household information. The second tool was a test, adapted by the Lao National Literacy Survey 2001, which measures the basic literacy skills (reading, writing, numeracy, and visual skills) and background information of respondents. The researcher used two separate sheets for each respondent. One sheet was used for households' basic information and the other for the compilation of test results of the literacy skills of the respondents. After gathering the complete information from respondents, the data was organized and analyzed statistically. The main finding of the study reflective that high family income correlates with a higher level of literacy skills, and lower-income with a lower level of literacy skills. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the government launch facilitating programs for the needy and vulnerable wards of society.