The writer is chair of National Numeracy, a UK charity
Jim, a 48-year-old former distribution centre worker had a life-long fear of numbers. He used to dread going out for dinner with friends, because he was unable to work out how the bill should be split at the end of the meal. So he ordered the same meal year after year. A simple calculation error at work resulted in him moving from a semi-skilled job back to a manual role, with a reinforced belief that numbers were not for him.
Three years later, Jim (not his real name) now works with numbers on a daily basis at an estate agency. Targeted support and training have turned around not only his life, but also his ability to support his children with their homework, ending the intergenerational cycle of functional innumeracy in his own family.