Of the Shortals whose literacy was recorded, 82.9% could both read and write, 6.1% could read but not write, and 11% could do neither. Men came out slightly ahead, 86.4% reading and writing against 78.9% of women. Bear in mind these figures include young children; the census itself only counted people aged nine and over when calculating illiteracy, on the grounds that it was unfair to label a child illiterate before they'd had a chance to learn.