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

• José Manuel Gutiérrez ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Salamanca

     Universidad de Salamanca

     Salamanca, España

     
• Localización: Spanish journal of statistics, ISSN-e 2695-9070, Nº. 6, 2024, págs. 39-59
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.37830/SJS.2024.1.04
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• Resumen

  • Acomparative 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. Censual data are obtained and analysed from the original source. If only partial or insufficient censual data are available, literacy is assessed as if given by full censual data. A set of comparable(as far as possible) literacy data is built. 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 a well-known pattern of delayed literacy development.