Literacy & Socio-Economics

When David Perdue, Chairman of the National Commission on Adult Literacy, made a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in September of 2007, he drew a clear connection between low literacy skills and socio-economic status. There is a "high correlation," he stated, "between illiteracy and socio-economic status," a connection that is perhaps to explain for the general lack of awareness in America regarding this crisis of literacy:

In my opinion, the primary reason most people aren’t aware of this raging problem is that unlike most diseases, this problem is not generally experienced across all socio-economic categories. Cancer affects us all but illiteracy and lack of education primarily affect people of lower socio-economic standing.

While the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy did not measure literacy based on an individual’s economic status, it did measure literacy levels and employment status, allowing us a first look at how low literacy levels (and a corresponding lack of a high school diploma or equivalent GED) effect employability. Here is what they found:

·      For adults with Below Basic literacy skills, 51% were not employed in the labor force. Thirty-five percent were employed full-time. (This was actually an increase in employment from 1992. Unfortunately, we do not have any similar data for the period after the economic crisis).

·         “In 2003, average prose and document literacy was highest among adults employed full or part time… and average quantitative literacy was highest for adults employed full time. Literacy was lowest across the three scales for adults who were not in the labor force.

The problem with these statistics is that they imply that literacy rises with employment. Instead, low literacy levels and associated low educational attainment (“on average, 55 percent of adults scoring at the lowest literacy level in NAAL were adults with less than high school or lacking a GED") hinder job possibilities for the 93 million Americans who “lack literacy at a level needed to enroll in the postsecondary education or job training that current and future jobs require” (National Commission on Adult Literacy). 

For further information, please see:

David Perdue's speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

A First Look at the Literacy of American's Adults in the 21st Century (NAAL)

National Commission on Adult Literacy