The Survey of Adult Skills assesses key information-processing skills of adults – literacy, numeracy and problem solving. The 2023 cycle expands this scope by including measures of social and emotional skills: agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion and openness to new experiences. This broader approach enables policymakers, researchers and educators to understand how cognitive and social and emotional skills jointly shape life outcomes. A lifelong-learning, multi-channel approach that embeds social and emotional learning into formal education systems, non-formal learning and workplaces can help strengthen these skills in both youth and adulthood and support groups with lower skill levels.
