Recently, I’ve been notified of the adult literacy crisis in the United States. While I knew that the adult reading level wasn’t as high as it should be for a developed country, I was unaware of the crisis’s severity. This very ignorance is part of the problem. How can this problem be solved if a large portion of the population is oblivious?
Defining Literacy
For starters, the PIAAC definition of literacy is “the ability to understand, use and engage with written texts to participate in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” As shown, literacy extends beyond basic understanding. Literacy deals with a person’s ability to function in society.
Illiteracy Rates
According to the NCES, one in five adults has trouble completing the above criteria for literacy. This statistic translates to about 43.0 million adults in the United States. The NCES states that “U.S.-born adults make up two-thirds of adults with low levels of literacy skills” and “non-U.S.-born adults comprise 34 percent of the population with low literacy skills.” Among this group, white and Hispanic adults make up the largest percentage.
Causes of Illiteracy
The Ballard Brief lists several potential causes of adult illiteracy in America:
- Education: The factors, of socioeconomic and racial inequality, drastically affect a child’s quality of education. Public schools depend on the income of the surrounding area—meaning lower-income areas cannot afford quality materials, staff, equipment, etc. As for racial inequality, this may occur due to teachers and peers having low expectations for minority students. This inequality then results in an achievement gap between white and minority students.
- Poverty: There exists a cycle between poverty and low literacy. Low-literate adults have a higher likelihood of living in poverty. Moreover, children begin to pick up on vocabulary from their surroundings. Shockingly, “children in high-income households have heard 30 million more words than children in low-income homes.”
- Non-native speakers: Some adults are considered illiterate in English, but literate in their native language. This goes to show the difficulty of becoming literate in the United States as an adult. In childhood, it’s vastly easier to learn a language than it is for an adult. Sadly, there aren’t enough opportunities existing where an adult can become literate in English. Moreover, it is important to understand that there are many barriers to becoming literate in English. One of those being economic status. Many of the Limited English Proficient adults work low-wage jobs in agriculture and construction where aren’t required to have English literacy.
- Learning disabilities: There is a correlation between the presence of a learning disability and low literacy rates. Consequently, people living in poverty have a higher amount of learning disabilities and have grossly fewer resources to treat the disabilities.
- Crime: Crime is not caused by low literacy rates. However, factors such as education, racial inequality, and poverty contribute to low literacy and criminal behavior. Furthermore, former convicts have a higher likelihood of working low-wage jobs, remaining uneducated, or being unemployed. These three factors do increase the likelihood of the former convict returning to prison.
What You Can Do
- Donate books
- Volunteer at organizations
- Join a campus RSO
- Spread awareness
- Educate yourself on the topic
