THE PROBLEM OF ILLITERACY
Forty percent of adult Americans have trouble reading
and writing even simple things. They cannot fill out a job application,
read traffic signs, read election ballots or read the prescription on a
medicine bottle. They can't understand a bus schedule, a newspaper
article, product labels or read a story to a child.
And the problem is getting worse. The United States
ranks 49th among 156 United Nations member countries in its literacy
rate - a drop of 18 places since 1950. At the same time, the need for
good literacy skills is increasing, especially in the workplace.
WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT
ILLITERACY IN AMERICA?
Illiteracy is a solvable problem. With only 35 to 45
hours of tutoring, an adult can improve his or her reading skills by
one grade level. Libraries, community colleges, churches, newspapers,
businesses, voluntary organizations, employers,
correctional institutions, the national Adult Basic Education Program and
community groups all across America are working to help nonreaders become
new readers.
HOW DOES ILLITERACY AFFECT ME?
Illiteracy costs the United States more than $225
billion a year in lost productivity. It is tied to unemployment, crime,
poverty, and family problems.
75 percent of unemployed adults have reading
and/or writing difficulties. 60 percent of all juvenile offenders have problems
reading. $5 billion is spent each year on welfare and unemployment
compensation due to illiteracy.
Businesses spend millions of dollars annually to
provide basic skills training for employees whose lack of education can
result in low productivity, industrial accidents, lawsuits, and poor
product quality.
In addition to the tremendous monetary costs, there are
the personal costs experienced by nonreaders and their families who have
no access to the joy and knowledge found in books, magazines and newspapers.
Youngsters whose parents cannot read are twice as likely as their peers
to have difficulty learning to read and write well.
WHO ARE THE NONREADERS?
There are no "typical" nonreaders. They can be
businessmen, college students, farmers, housewives, truck drivers,
engineers, office clerks, nurses' aids, military personnel - anyone.
Nonreaders come from all age groups. Forty percent are between the ages
of 20 and 39; 28 percent are ages 40 to 59; and 32 percent are over 60.
Nonreaders live in all kinds of neighborhoods. Fifty-one
percent of illiterate adults live in small towns and suburbs, 41 percent
live in urban areas, and eight percent in rural areas.
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