The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has proposed that school pupils should continue learning maths until 18 in order to obtain the numeracy skills needed in careers and everyday adult life. This proposal may be useful to current teenagers – but what about those of us who have already started grappling with adult life, and may feel anxious every time we encounter numbers?
Millions of adults in the UK struggle with basic arithmetic. Many suffer from a real phobia – mathematics anxiety – of numbers, calculations, and even the word “maths”.
