Census-based comparability of data on literacy processes in Western Europe

Gutiérrez, José Manuel (2023): Census-based comparability of data on literacy processes in Western Europe.

Abstract

A comparative picture of the literacy processes in Western Europe on the eve of and during the Second Industrial Revolution is provided, taking censual literacy rates as a yardstick to measure and compare literacy in different countries. If only partial or insufficient censual data are available, literacy is assessed as if given by full censual data. Four literacy groups result. The area of Western Europe where mass literacy was first achieved was the German-speaking or culturally highly Germanised zone. Britain and Sweden turn out to be in the same cluster as France. The periphery of Western Europe shows the well-known pattern of delayed literacy development.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: literacy; census; comparability of data
• Subjects: N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy > N33 - Europe: Pre-1913

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