The transfer of knowledge and skills is a key social process that supports the functioning of all social institutions, including the economy. Existing research shows that the participation of adults in education throughout their lives has noticeable consequences for wealth, social wellbeing, state of health and cognitive abilities. The learnability of adults provides an additional resource for the economy, which increases its resistance and adaptability during a crisis, allows institutional development and provides an increase of human capital during economic growth. In this paper, we analyze the involvement of adults in education and estimate the effectiveness of adult educational practices in Russia in comparison with OECD countries. The analysis is based on the data of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competences (PIAAC). It is shown that adult learners in Russia demonstrate the same level of measured competences (in reading and math) as those who are not involved in any educational activities. The results are quite different for OECD countries. At the same time, we observe dissimilar models of participation of adults in education in Russia and OECD countries. In the latter countries, there is a “supportive” role of adult education, in which a learner has a strong career, income and social wellbeing, while in Russia a “crisis” model is common for those adults involved in formal education.