Literacy facts
- from Wisconsin Literacy -


Wisconsin
  • Approximately 1 million Wisconsin adults qualify for adult literacy and English language services (U. S. Census 2000 and NALS 1992). Only 75,000 (or less than 10%) of adults in need of services are currently receiving them.
  • From 1990 to 2000, the Hispanic or Latino population in Wisconsin more than doubled (107% increase) (U.S. Census 2000).
  • More than 14,500 basic skills and English Language Learners are instructed annually by Wisconsin Literacy member agencies in community, corrections, workplace, family and faith-based literacy settings. (Wisconsin Literacy 2007)
  • Nearly 3,500 trained volunteer tutors provide individualized, goal-oriented adult literacy instruction per year at Wisconsin Literacy member agencies throughout the state. (Wisconsin Literacy 2007)

  Nation
  • 42% of adults between the ages of 25 and 67 have, at most, a high school education (U.S. Census 2000).
  • 20% of preschool aged children live in poverty and are likely to be part of families where the parent with the highest education has less than a high school education (National Institute of Family Literacy).
  • 2/3 of all jobs, and the majority of jobs that pay wages sufficient to support a family, require skills associated with at least some education beyond high school (Carnevale & Derochers, 2003).
  • The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) estimates that 30 million adults in the U.S. –14% of the country’s adult population – have only the most minimal ability to read and write in English.
  • 22.2% of the foreign-born population had less than a 9th grade education, compared to 4.7% of the native population (Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau 2000).
  • 66% of high school graduates do not have the skills and qualifications necessary to attend college (Center for Civic Innovation at the Manhattan Institute, 2005).
  • One in five adults – over 40 million Americans – has pressing literacy needs (NALS).
  • Almost 50% of adults on welfare do not have a high school diploma or GED (National Institute for Literacy).
  • 43% of people with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty, 17% receive food stamps, and 70% have no job or a part-time job (National Institute for Literacy).
  • American businesses are estimated to lose over $60 billion in productivity each year due to employees’ lack of basic skills (National Institute for Literacy).

  International
  • When compared to five other industrialized nations in the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (2003), the U.S., ranked fifth in prose and numeracy literacy behind Bermuda, Canada, Norway, and Switzerland, but ahead of Italy.
  • Women account for two out of three illiterate adults.  In 2000 there were 236 million more illiterate women than men.
Why literacy is important

In the United States, an estimated 30 million people over the age of 16 read no better than the average elementary school child. Worldwide, nearly 800 million adults are illiterate in their native languages; two-thirds of them are women. Thirty million Americans read no better than the average elementary school child. In Outagamie County alone, 12,100 residents lack literacy skills, according to the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences.

Yet the ability to read and write is the basis for all other education; literacy is necessary for an individual to understand information that is out of context, whether written or verbal. Literacy is essential if we are to eradicate poverty at home and abroad, improve infant mortality rates, address gender inequality, and create sustainable development. Without literacy skills—the abilities to read, to write, to do math, to solve problems, and to access and use technology—today’s adults will struggle to take part in the world around them and fail to reach their full potential as parents, community members, and employees. Read more about this on ProLIteracy's website.


In Outagamie County alone, 12,100 residents lack literacy skills
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Fox Valley Literacy Coalition 103 E. Washington StreetAppleton, WI 54911
920-991-9840 Telephone920-991-1012 Fax

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