In 1981, some 12,500 British 23-year-olds were interviewed in a survey carried out by the National Children's Bureau as part of an ongoing longitudinal study. A small part of each interview dealt with the respondent's experience of literacy and numeracy problems. Results demonstrated that a substantial number of the young adults had experienced problems relating to basic skills since leaving school. Ten percent reported literacy problems since leaving school; five percent reported numeracy problems. One-fifth of those with problems said that lack of basic skills had actually prevented them from achieving some goal during the period covered by the survey. (The questions that were asked are appended.) (YLB)