If how much you value something can be judged on the time and money you spend on it people must really love learning.
Individuals in the UK invest £7.3bn a year into their own learning and £55bn worth of their own time. That is more than the government and employers combined.
But this investment isn’t spread evenly, with younger people three times more likely to be learning as older people. With people living longer than previous generations, and many working over longer multi-staged careers, the need to upskill when needed through lifelong learning is imperative.
UK government investment in skills is set to be £1 billion less in 2025 than in 2010, while employer investment in training has fallen by 28 per cent since 2005. In a third of businesses, the majority of training is solely focused on induction and health and safety. But is more money the whole answer? What else can we learn from around the world about how to do things differently? Phoenix Insights have partnered with the International Longevity Centre on new research to answer these questions.
Other countries face similar challenges to the UK to balance the needs, expectations and skills of multiple generations in the workforce. The emergence of new technologies means that jobs and the people who do them will need to adapt. Funding for learning and skills matter, but there are other factors that lead to higher engagement and effectiveness in learning. We found a real mix of approaches, funding mechanisms, and delivery methods across leading OECD countries.
