Previously, I discussed how passive the Portuguese government reacted to the high illiteracy rates in its country. In this post, similarly to my colleagues regarding Spain, Italy and Greece, I will talk about the current effects of those (missing) policies and high illiteracy rates in Portugal. To really understand how bad the situation is for the Mediterranean countries, I too will add further information about the economic repercussions of illiteracy in my country and expand it with a discussion on how it affects the individual.

Impact on the individual

First, I want to talk about the impact on the individual and why it is so important. For us literate people it is very easy to ignore how illiterate people feel about themselves and around others. Even academics who choose to focus on the socio-economic implications of illiteracy leave the individual aspect rather unexplored.

But why is it so important ?

For a State to be considered modern and developed, something Mediterranean countries struggle to reach at the level of Northern European countries, it needs to be economically and socially developed. By social development I mean continuous progress in education, social participation and living standards. However, because of their illiteracy, many Portuguese are limited in social activities.

Interviews show how due to the lack of policies and campaigns, illiteracy creates the sense of insecurity, regret, lack of autonomy and being always at a disadvantage. This makes social participation and the everyday life very difficult or even miserable for some.

Impact on the economy

Besides making you feel unhappy, alone and without control of your life, illiteracy can also have negative impacts on the State’s economy. How so ? One simple answer is that having low literary skills makes it more difficult for you to find a job. A country’s economy is expected to grow, which leads to an increasing need of skilled workers in new areas such as technology. Especially in such a competitive environment as the EU, economic growth is important. Portugal having 40% of functional illiterates (the highest in Europe) makes it difficult to sustain that growth if nothing is done to reduce that number.

The lack of “brain” in newer areas such as technology also partly defines a country’s economy. For example here, Portugal’s economy is based around agriculture and this has been the case for generations, as they promoted the rural lifestyle in the past. Taking away the opportunities for Portugal to expand its economy with the lack of skills required for it could pose a hindrance to an economic growth

.By the lack policies and campaigns to promote literacy, it seems to me that the State is happy enough with their current state. I ask myself however how long they can rely on their current approach.

Image sources:

1st image on Wikimedia ; 2nd image by whoislimos on Unsplash ; 3rd image by Visual Stories || Micheile on Unsplash