An estimated two-thirds of adolescents who cannot read proficiently by the end of fourth grade will wind up on poverty or in jail.1)
Around 14% of adults worldwide, or 775 million people, are functionally illiterate.2)
Over 130 million Americans are illiterate or illiterate. Each year, low literacy rates cost the United States more than $200 billion.3)
For every dollar invested on adult illiteracy, society earns $7.14 back in the form of reduced expenditures or greater earnings.4)
Women account for almost two-thirds of the world's lowest literate adults.5)
Low literacy rates have been connected to a number of disasters throughout the world, including high infant mortality, the development of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other avoidable infectious diseases, discrimination against women, including female infanticide and female circumcision, and extreme poverty.6)
Over 70% of American cannot read above the fourth grade level.7)
Minneapolis is the most literate city in the United States, with Washington D.C. and Seattle filling out the top three.8)
Long Beach, California is the most illiterate city in the United States, followed by Mesa, Arizona, and Aurora, Colorado.9)
With a literacy rate of about 27%, South Sudan is the world's least literate country.10)
One in in four youngsters in America grows up without learning to read.11)
Literacy is becoming increasingly influenced by technology. Libraries, in particular, are altering their usage and accessibility of resources; newspapers are more available online; and the number of independent and small booksellers is declining.12)