The Nation

In a study of literacy among 20 ‘high income’ countries; US ranked 12th
Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children
50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth 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
6 out of 10 households do not buy a single book in a year

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

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