Selling learning with greed

This is perhaps an unfair title for my thoughts today, but why not?  The LSC last week released the findings of a study that implied that British households spend twice as much on trips to hair and beauty salons and toiletry products than on learning a new skill.  In order to sell learning, they then pushed the idea that if you diverted that money into learning skills, you could afford more trips to the salon and classier products.

Let us put aside a few carping comments or things that would detract from this lovely bit of research, such as:

• The LSC covers England not Britain
• The sales pitch for learning is that if you have low levels of qualifications, the training would be free - so you don't actually have to give up anything, do you?
• Did they really factor in what every tax payer contributes via income tax and indirect taxes into what we all spend on learning each year?
• Do we have to continue to assume that learning a new skill is synonymous with paying to attend a training course and getting accredited qualifications?
• The wording implies a concentration on female spending (hair dressers, beauty parlours, cosmetics and toiletries) - what about spending on perceived male areas like beer, football matches, Sky subscriptions, DIY?

Put that quibbling aside - the intention is noble and something needs to be done to encourage people to invest in their own development.  I hope the marketing gurus used by the LSC have chosen a good route, but I am not so sure.  Personally I go to the beauty salon and the hairdresser to ensure that I look the part for work, and to provide an opportunity to de-stress and relax a bit.  I do personal development, related to work and non-related work challenges, and I enjoy doing it.  The last time I did a qualification, I found myself in need of more facials due to the added stress of coursework, getting to classes on time, and getting all the usual out of work stuff done in less time than I had before.

Like I say - nice intention, but if people were numerically literate enough to pull the story to pieces like I just did, it would be even better!