Is America’s Adult Literacy Problem
Serious?
World Literacy
Foundation: July 2020 by Hannah Leah
Around the world, an estimated 781
million children and adults are either illiterate or functionally literate and
43 millions [sic] of those adults are Americans. While the former means that
they cannot read even a single word, the latter means that they have either a
basic or below-average reading level.
Despite being the largest economy in the
world, the U.S. continues to struggle with a staggering literacy problem where
21% of adults in the U.S. are either
completely illiterate or functionally illiterate.
It suggests that the U.S. is
significantly behind many countries with smaller economies, including Japan,
the UK, Canada, all of the Scandinavian countries, and South Korea.
Adverse Effects of Mass Illiteracy
This problem is costing our country
dearly. An estimated $232 billion in annual healthcare costs are due to the
public’s general inability to understand fundamental health information.
Meanwhile, with regards to the American workforce, illiteracy costs the U.S. an
annual $225 billion in non-productivity, workplace crime, as well as loss tax
revenue from unemployment due to illiteracy. This also explains why 43% of
American adults with the lowest literacy levels are also poor. A serious and
devastating cycle that is very difficult to move out of. READ MORE ➤➤
Based
on 7 readability formulas:
Grade Level: 9
Reading Level: difficult to read.
Reader's Age: 13-15 yrs. old
(Eighth and Ninth graders)
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