Map and Stats
- One child in four grows up not knowing how to read.
- About one in 20 adults in the U.S. are not literate in English
- 11 million Americans lack the skills to handle many everyday tasks.
- 30 million adults may not be able to make sense of a simple pamphlet.
- Adults with the ability to perform challenging and complex reading tasks made an average yearly salary of $50,700 in 2003. That is $28,000 more than those who lacked basic skills.
- Literacy is learned. Illiteracy is passed along by parents who cannot read or write.
- 43% of adults at Level 1 literacy skills live in poverty compared to only 4% of those at Level5.
- 3 out of 4 food stamp recipients perform in the lowest 2 literacy levels.
- 90% of welfare recipients are high school dropouts.
- 16 to 19 year old girls at the poverty level and below, with below average skills, are 6 times more likely to have out-of-wedlock children than their reading counterparts.
- Low literary costs $73 million per year in terms of direct health care costs. A recent study by Pfizer put the cost much higher.
D.C. Literacy Statistics
- Literacy levels in the District are substantially lower than those in the nation overall. Low literacy levels keep many D.C. residents out of the running for decent paying jobs, and exclude them from participation and exclude them from training programs that can lead to better paying jobs.(D.C. State of the Workforce Report, 2003)
- In 2006, an independent study determined Washington D.C.'s graduation rate to be 58.9%. (Diplomas Count: An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates)
- The Mayor's Literacy Initiative has determined that District literacy programs are only serving about about 10% of the target population.(The Washington Post, 2003)
- Approximately 35% percent of DC's children live in poverty; such children generally enter school with basic skills lagging two or more years behind those of other children. Rates are higher among African American children, with 41% living in poverty. (Kids Count Annual Fact Book, 2003)
- Employers in D.C. report that the biggest barrier to hiring local adults is the lack of language and math skills. (Kids Count Annual Fact Book, 2000)
(Source: BegintoRead.com)
