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⁾