Literacy Statistics 2022-2023

Literacy Data and its impact on the Nation

• Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 130 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children

• 21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2022

• 54% of adults have a literacy below 6th grade level

• 45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level

• 44% of the American adults do not read a book in a year

• The Top 3 states for highest child literacy rates were Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Hampshire, in that order (highest to lowest).

• The Bottom 3 states for child literacy rates were Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico, (highest to lowest).

Literacy Data and its impact on the  Economy

• 3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read

• 20% of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage

• 50% of the unemployed between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate

• Between 46% and 51% of American adults have an income well below the poverty level because of their inability to read

• Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year

• School dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues

Literacy Data and its impact on Society

• 3 out of 5 people in American prisons can’t read

• To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests

• 85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading

• Approximately 50% of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels

Literacy Data and its impact in the classroom

• Approximately 40% of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level.

• Almost 70% of low-income fourth grade students cannot read at a basic level.

• 49% of 4th graders eligible for free and reduced-price meals finished below “Basic” on the NAEP reading test.

• Teacher disposition changes drastically during reading instruction with  poor readers.

• Student disposition changes when they are made to feel inadequate.

• Students struggle in other academic areas.

• 60% of the behavioral problems occur during reading assignments- group or independently.

• Struggling readers suffer socially.

• Struggling readers suffer emotionally.

• The student's family feels the emotions and social effects.