Why literacy matters

One in four (1 in 4) children in America grows up without learning to read.
Two-thirds (67%) of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare.
Over seventy percent (70%) of America’s inmates cannot read above a 4th grade level. Literacy matters.
Students who don’t read proficiently by the 3rd grade are 4 times more likely to drop out of school. Literacy matters.
As of 2011, America was the only free-market country where the current generation was less educated than the previous one.
Nearly 85% of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate. More than 60% of all inmates are functionally illiterate. Literacy matters.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of 4th graders admitted to reading recreationally “almost every day,” but only twenty percent (20%) of 8th graders could say the same.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of Americans who receive food stamps perform at the lowest 2 levels of literacy, and 90% of high school dropouts are on welfare.
Teenage girls (16 to 19 years old) who live at or below the poverty line and have below average literacy skills are 6 times more likely to have children out of wedlock than girls their age who can read proficiently. Literacy matters.
Reports show that the rate of low literacy in the United States directly costs the healthcare industry over $232 billion per year. Literacy matters.
Twenty-one percent (21%) of American adults are functionally illiterate.

These facts are unacceptable for our society. The cost to the individual and to our country is just too high.

We know how to correct this. Are you willing to help?

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