How Serious Is
America's Literacy Problem?
Library
Journal: 4.29.2020 by Amy Rea
The
first step in solving a problem is seeing it clearly. This article, part one of
an ongoing series, defines the broad scope and depth of the literacy crisis in
the United States, among both children and adults. Future installments will
address the complex ecosystem of schools, government agents, nonprofits, and
more that are tackling this challenge; survey librarians on what they are doing
to improve literacy in their communities; and highlight case studies and best
practices of those making a difference.
According
to the International Literacy Association, there are 781 million people in the
world who are either illiterate (cannot read a single word) or functionally
illiterate (with a basic or below basic ability to read). Some 126 million of
them are young people. That accounts for 12 percent of the world’s population.
This is not just a problem in developing
countries. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES),
21 percent of adults in the United States (about 43 million) fall into the
illiterate/functionally illiterate category. Nearly two-thirds of fourth
graders read below grade level, and the same number graduate from high school
still reading below grade level. This puts the United States well behind
several other countries in the world, including Japan, all the Scandinavian
countries, Canada, the Republic of Korea, and the UK.
The NCES breaks the below-grade-level
reading numbers out further: 35 percent are white, 34 percent Hispanic, 23
percent African American, and 8 percent “other.” Nor is this a problem mostly
for English Language Learners. Non-U.S.-born adults make up 34 percent of the
low literacy/illiterate U.S. population. New Hampshire, Minnesota, and North
Dakota have the highest literacy rates (94.2 percent, 94 percent, and 93.7
percent respectively), while Florida, New York, and California have the lowest
(80.3 percent, 77.9 percent, and 76.9 percent respectively).
WHY IT MATTERS
The risks to people who can’t read or can
barely read are significant, including:
HEALTH
The American Journal of Public
Health reports that the inability to read and understand health information
accounts for $232 billion spent in health care costs each year. It also affects
life span. A study by Harvard University found that people who had at least 12
years of education had a life span a year and a half longer than those with
less education.
EMPLOYMENT
The National Council for Adult
Learning points to annual costs of $225 billion in nonproductivity in the
workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment tied to low
literacy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has data showing a strong relationship
between educational attainment and employment.
POVERTY
The National Institute of
Literacy says that 43 percent of adults with the lowest literacy levels live in
poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the official poverty rate in 2018
was 11.8 percent, down slightly from 2017. But 17.6 percent of Hispanic people
and 20.8 percent of African Americans were classified as being in poverty, much
higher than the average, and both groups saw an increase from 2017. Literacy
and income are tied closely together, though race-based discrimination affects
Hispanic people and African Americans in the employment market, making it
harder to earn incomes comparable to white people even at equivalent
educational levels.
GENERATIONAL LITERACY
Adult poverty in
turn impacts children; 61 percent of low-income families have no children’s
books in their homes, which affects the child’s ability to develop the skills
to begin reading on their own. The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that 68
percent of fourth graders in the United States read at a below proficient level,
and of those, 82 percent are from low-income homes. The National Bureau of
Economic Research says 72 percent of children whose parents have low literacy
skills will likely be at the lowest reading levels themselves. The pattern sets
in early: the American Library Association says a child who is a poor reader at
the end of first grade has a 90 percent chance of still being a poor reader at
the end of fourth grade.
CRIME
The U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) has data showing that 75 percent of state prison inmates are either
classified as low literate or did not complete high school. The Literacy
Project Foundation reported that three out of five people in prison can’t read,
and 85 percent of youth offenders struggle to read. READ
MORE ➤➤
Based
on (7) readability formulas:
Grade Level: 10
Reading Level: difficult to read.
Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. Old
(Ninth to Tenth graders)
Adult
2020: US Skills Map: State & County
Indicators of Adult Literacy & Numeracy, NCES
2019: Adult Literacy in the United
States, NCES
2019-179
2019: Literacy Gap Map, Barbara Bush Foundation for Family
Literacy
2013: OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First
Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD
2009: Literacy of America's Least
Literate Adults, NAAL 2003
2006: Literacy of America's College
Students, AIR
2007: Literacy in Everyday
Life, NAAL
2003
2003: National Assessment of Adult
Literacy, NAAL
2000: Programs for Adults in Public
Library Outlets, USDE,
NCES
1992: National Adult Literacy
Survey, NALS
see also
Health
Prison
Workplace
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