This article presents 2007 report on the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) survey on adult participation in learning. With overall participation among the poorest groups stuck at less than half that experienced by the upper and middle classes, the survey suggests the need to ask if the balance of public investment in adult learning is right. NIACE's annual participation surveys capture a range of formal, non-formal and informal learning. Overall, current and recent participation has fallen from 42 per cent to 41 per cent in 2006. The proportion of retired people reporting current or recent participation has risen from 16 per cent to 19 per cent. This comes at a time when the Learning and Skills Council in England, which accounts for some 80 per cent of the UK population, reports a reduction of almost a million adult learners in publicly funded further education over two years, and a halving of participation by learners over the age of 60. This is not the first recorded instance of such a divergence: the authors cite job losses in previously training-rich companies, while acknowledging that the current picture appears to be more complex. However, the message of the current survey, like its recent predecessors, appears to be that little significant progress has been made in increasing participation among those who left school earliest, or among the poorest socio-economic groups. (Contains 3 tables.)