Why Literacy

Literacy Facts

Know the facts. Help raise awareness of the issues.

(Sources: ProLiteracy website, October 2009; U.S. Department of Education Literacy Study, 2003; U.S. Census 2000)

43% of adults in the U.S. read at or below a basic reading level.
30 million people over age 16 don’t read well enough to understand a newspaper story written at the eighth grade level or fill out a job application.
The U.S. ranks fifth in adult literacy skills compared to other industrialized nations.
Adults without high school diplomas earn 42% less than graduates and account for millions in lost federal, state, and local revenues.
Low literacy can be connected to almost every socio-economic issue in the U.S.

There is a direct link between literacy skills and public assistance, teen mothers, children living in poverty, and prison populations.
More than 60% of all state and federal corrections inmates can barely read and write.
Low health literacy costs between $106 billion and $238 billion each year in the U.S. That’s 7-17% of all annual personal health care spending.
Low literacy’s effects cost the U.S. $225 billion or more each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.

The greatest predictor of a child’s success in school is the reading level of his mother.

1 in 10 adults in Buncombe County cannot read at a basic level, according to a U.S. Department of Education literacy study (2003).
Approximately 8% of county residents do not speak English at home.
18% of adults in Buncombe County do not have high school diplomas.
15% of children in Buncombe County will not graduate from high school.
Literacy is our greatest weapon in the ongoing struggle between success and failure – between economic vitality and prosperity for all our residents.
There are no “typical” non-readers. They could be your fireman, co-worker, or even your neighbor.

…you can’t read the label on your child’s medicine bottle.

…you can’t count your change in the checkout line.

…you can’t fill out an application for a job.

… or the paperwork for a loan …or food …or housing.

…the boss hands you a new instruction manual.

…you need to get directions or read a map.

…the teacher sends home an important note about your child.