Supplementary Papers

Public Value Papers

This series of papers grapples with a range of questions about how we should understand the benefits of lifelong learning. The ‘public value’ of lifelong learning resides in the benefits it brings, not only to the learners themselves, but to the wider society. If learning makes individuals healthier, for example, that is good for them, but also for their family, their community and for the health service and the taxpayer. It signals a general uplift in the quality of life. This is public value. These papers explore different approaches to evaluating the benefits of learning.

Lifelong Learning and Crime: A Life-course Perspective, by John Bynner
This paper addresses the financial and other benefits to society to be gained from lifelong learning as an antidote to crime. It starts by setting out the evidence on the benefits of lifelong learning in relation to crime and offending and shows the potential benefits are high, but that current policy and practice does not enable them to be realised. It makes a case for a life-course approach to analyse the effects of learning. Finally, it adds a critique of how cost – benefit analysis is used and urges for a broader approach.

Lifelong Learning and Well-being: An Analysis of the Relationship Between Adult Learning and Subjective Well-being, by Matrix Knowledge Group
This paper addresses the question of how far learning can contribute to improving well-being. It studies the impact on a person’s well-being of engaging in lifelong learning, and uses this relationship to estimate the economic value of lifelong learning.  It suggests that undertaking part-time education, or having done so in the last year, is associated with an increase in well-being. However, having obtained a formal qualification at a later than conventional age results in a lower level of subjective well-being compared with obtaining a formal qualification at the conventional age.

Lifelong Learning and Crime: An Analysis of the Cost-effectiveness of In-prison Educational and Vocational Interventions, by Matrix Knowledge Group
This paper addresses the question of how far learning can contribute to a reduction in crime. It investigates the efficiency of one form of lifelong learning – in-prison educational and vocational interventions – in reducing offending. Specifically, by using cost- benefit analysis, it attempts to answer the question: ‘is in-prison education a cost-effective use of public resources, and what types of intervention are most efficient for which offenders?’

The Impact of Lifelong Learning and Poverty Reduction, by Ricardo Sabates
This paper summarises research-based evidence about the impacts of lifelong learning on poverty reduction. It is a contribution to an empirically based understanding of the complex mechanisms through which education impacts on poverty reduction.

It starts by providing a definition of poverty and sets the scene for learning opportunities for poor people in the UK. It reviews literature on the income effects of adult education, the impact of financial literacy, the employment and health effects of adult learning, basic skills and health literacy and the impact of lifelong learning on reducing child poverty.