Adult Literacy Facts

Family Literacy

A mother's reading skill is the greatest determinant of her children's future academic success, outweighing other factors, such as neighborhood and family income.¹ 

Children of less-educated parents are much more likely to become low-skilled adults. U.S. adults with low levels of education who have parents with low levels of education are 10 times more likely to have low skills than are those who have higher-educated parents.²

Earnings & Employment

3X the earnings. Median weekly earnings in 2018 for those with the highest levels of educational attainment—doctoral and professional degrees—were more than triple those with the lowest level, less than a high school diploma. Workers age 25 and over who have less education than a high school diploma had the highest unemployment rate (5.4%) and lowest median weekly earnings ($592), three times less than the highest level of education.³  

The 2020 recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic saw adults with less than a high school diploma suffer the highest unemployment rate compared to all other education levels. ⁴

Health Literacy

 

It is estimated between $106–$238 billion in health care costs a year are linked to low adult literacy skills.  Adults with limited health literacy are hospitalized and use emergency services at significantly higher rates than those with higher skills.⁵

Cost of Low Literacy

English Language Learners

The U.S. has—by far—the world’s largest immigrant population, holding about one-in-five of the world’s immigrants.⁷

Among immigrants ages 5 and older in 2018, only half (53%) are proficient English speakers.⁸ 

This severely limits their access to jobs, college, and citizenship and increases their vulnerability to living in poverty. Pew Research estimates that between 2015 and 2065, immigrants and their descendants are projected to increase the U.S. population by 103 million people.⁹

Incarceration

Seventy-five percent of state incarcerated individuals did not complete high school or can be classified as low literate¹⁰. Incarcerated individuals who participate in correctional education programs are 43% less likely to recidivate than individuals who do not.¹¹

Government Funding and Programs in Jeopardy

Adult education is in critical need for services. A decline in federal and state funding in the past 10 years has resulted in programs serving only a fraction of the adults in need. Currently, 50% of adult education programs are struggling with long student waiting lists due to demand exceeding program capacity.12 At the present levels of public funding, less than 10 percent of adults in need are receiving services.

Low literacy is a global crisis that affects all of us. That's why it's so important to understand the issues and confront the facts head on. Only then can we can stand together to fight for change.

The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)

The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) is an international survey conducted in 40 countries that measures the key cognitive and workplace skills needed for individuals to participate in society and for economies to prosper. PIAAC is designed to assess adults in different countries over a broad range of abilities, from simple reading to complex problem solving skills. 

Sources:

1. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2010, October 25). Improving mothers’ literacy skills may be best way to boost children’s achievement. National Institute of Health. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/impr...

2. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. (2015, February). Making Skills Everyone’s Business: A Call to Transform Adult Learning in the United States. http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/Adul... 

3. Career Outlook Data on Display. (2020, May). Learn more, earn more: Education leads to higher wages, lower unemployment : Career Outlook. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2020/data-on-dis...

4. Falk, G., Carter, J., Nicchitta, I., Nyhof, E., & Romero, P. (2020, December 7). Unemployment Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic: In Brief. Congressional Research Service. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46554.

5. Vernon, J. A., Trujillo, A., Rosenbaum, S. & DeBuono, B. (2007, October). Low health literacy: Implications for national health policy. Health Sciences Research Commons. Washington, DC: George Washington University. Retrieved from http://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/sphhs_policy_facpub...

6. Rothwell, J. (2020, September). Assessing the Economic Gains of Eradicating Illiteracy Nationally and Regionally in the United States. Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. https://www.barbarabush.org/new-economic-study/.

7. Connor, P., Cohn, D. V., & Gonzalez-Barrera, A. (2013, December 17). Changing Patterns of Global Migration and Remittances. Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/12/17/changing-patterns-of-global-migration-and-remittances/.

8. Budiman, A. (2020, August 20). Key findings about U.S. immigrants. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/20/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/.

9. Pew Research Center. (2015, September 28). Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S. Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2015/09/28/modern-immigration-wave-brings-59-million-to-u-s-driving-population-growth-and-change-through-2065/.

10. Wolf Harlow, Ph.D, C. (2003). Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Education and Correctional Populations. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ecp.pdf

11. Davis, L., Bozick, R., Steele, J., Saunders, J., & Miles, J. (2013). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults. https://doi.org/10.7249/rr266

12. ProLiteracy Annual Statistical Report. (2021, January). https://www.proliteracy.org/Resources/Media-Kit/Brochures/Statistical-Report.