THE SPREAD OF LITERACY IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND

This study analyzes the causes of the rise of popular literacy in England between 1840 and 1900, addressing the debate in previous historiography over the relative importance of elite educational policy versus working class demand as causal factors. A cost-benefit framework is used, turning first to an analysis of individual costs and benefits, and then to the ability of these factors to explain regional variations in literacy trends, and finally to the ability of these factors to account for changes over time in the net present value of literacy.; Literates appear to have earned more than illiterates in the labor market and literates also appear to have had better marriage prospects. These results held even after controlling for parental background and ability. Nevertheless, over 50 percent of those in the lowest social classes appear to have received no ex post premium for their literacy. Both the change in occupational composition toward more literacy-using activities and the presence of literacy-using technical change suggest that the demand for literate workers was shifting to the right. The value derived from books, newspapers, and the mails increased markedly between 1830 and 1870 because of the marked fall in their prices. Over the same time period, roughly half of the English population gained access to subsidized schooling. This implied a fall in the direct cost of schooling of roughly 60 percent. Estimated values of the direct price elasticity of schooling were less than one, but the price fall was large enough to imply substantial increases in school enrollments. The English economy exhibited only a weak tendency to shift away from activities intensive in the use of children. Parental education appears to have had a much stronger impact on children's education than parental income.; The one factor clearly associated with regional variations in literacy trends was the provison of subsidized schooling.; Overall, the study suggests a multi-causal account of the rise of literacy with both working class demand and the provision of subsidized schooling making significant contributions.