Illiteracy Also Poses An Economic Problem In An Increasingly Competitive Global Economy
According to a new report, one in five Americans is functionally illiterate. The National Coalition for Literacy says a total of 40 million Americans cannot manage basic reading or writing skills. These are the sort of skills required for everyday living, such as reading a bus schedule or filling out a job application.
The U.S. literacy rate is considerably lower than in European countries, and puts a greater strain on U.S. labor markets, which are increasingly global and competitive.
Illiteracy is highest in the black and Latino communities, but two-thirds of those lacking basic language skills were born in the U.S. and English is their native language. More than half of the functionally illiterate actually graduated from high school, even though they couldn't read their own diplomas.
But millions more are just getting by. According to the National Institute for Literacy, only half of all adult Americans are operating at a Level 3 proficiency in reading, which is what many state agencies consider to be the minimum standard for success in today's labor market.
The problem of illiteracy has many costs. Millions of patients cannot read the instructions, or the names of the drugs, on their prescription medicine bottles. As a result, illiteracy can affect health and quality of life in very measurable ways.
Illiterate people often lack basic information on nutrition and hygiene, and may have no understanding of how diseases, such as HIV, are spread.
And an inability to read certainly doesn't enable, or favor, a democratic republic. Illiterate Americans cannot read voter information pamphlets or the names of the candidates on their ballots.
But the costs are more than just social or societal. There are economic costs as well, and they amount to billions of dollars.
American business pays a heavy cost for illiteracy. If a business or organization is involved in the preparation or sale of printed materials of any kind, they must consider that 20% of their prospective customers are illiterate.
According to the National Adult Literacy Survey, adult illiteracy in the U.S. carries an estimated price tag of more than $17 billion per year as a result of lost income and tax revenue, welfare, unemployment, crime and incarceration, and training cost for business and industry.
An adult without a high school diploma earns 42% less than an adult with a high school diploma, and high school dropouts have an unemployment rate four times greater than that of high school graduates.
Other statistics are just as disturbing, but hardly surprising. For example, 50% of the chronically unemployed are not functionally literate; 33% of all welfare recipients are not considered to be functionally literate; and 75% of the nation's prison inmates do not have a high school diploma. In short, where there is illiteracy, there is poverty.
Our nation’s schools aren't simply failing the kids who attend them; they're failing American businesses and society at large, as well. Even among those who do have a high school diploma, many are unprepared for the work world; 50% of Fortune 500 companies underwrite remedial employee training in the basic skills at an annual cost of $300 million a year. And illiteracy doesn't just affect private industry; the military spends $70 million on basic skills remediation for recruits.
Americans love to say “America is the greatest country in the world.” But, when it comes to literacy, the truth is that the U.S. is just 55th among the world’s nations.
As stunning as it may seem, research indicates that about one third of America's high school students do not graduate. And for black and Latino students, the figures are even more alarming; 50% will drop out before getting their diploma.
Take, for example, California, our nation’s largest population state. According to research done by Harvard University and the Urban Institute, only 55 percent of African American students, and 57 percent of Latino students, graduate with regular diplomas. The figures are even lower for male students in these groups.
The cumulative effects of these statistics over a decade, or a lifetime, have tragic implications. Today's dropouts often become part of a permanent underclass, with a tendency toward a lifetime of low earnings, high incarceration rates, and parenting the next generation of dropouts.
Whereas previous generations of dropouts could find decent, well-paying, blue-collar jobs that would solidly entrench them in the middle class, today even those who obtain a high school diploma find the modern job market ultra-competitive and exclusive. The new economy is information-based, employs advanced manufacturing, and often requires higher education. Low wage jobs are increasingly being sent overseas, while others are often filled by desperate immigrants – both legal and illegal. Even at fast-food chains, advancement generally requires a diploma.
While some argue that a lack of funding is to blame, the Manhattan Institute claims that per pupil spending has doubled since the 1970s.
Solving the problems of illiteracy and low, or poor, education will require more than just money. Greater parental involvement is necessary, as well as greater use of mentoring programs for kids. More remedial education classes for adults are also needed, as well as vocational training for young and old.
Lastly, meaningful, enforceable immigration reform will be needed to make schools competitive once again. Too many schools have been overwhelmed by the massive wave of immigration that has taken place over the last 25 years.
According to the State Board of Education, more than 300 languages are spoken in California’s schools, and “virtually all school-children meet classmates whose home language is different from their own.”
This is not an indictment against bilingualism or multilingualism – they are useful and valuable in the modern world of global markets. But the simple truth is, if American children are not able to adequately and effectively read, write and communicate in English, it will hamper their future earning potential and serve as an obstacle to their success.
And seen from a larger perspective, illiteracy has those same affects on us collectively, as a nation, since it lowers our competitiveness in what has increasingly become a global economy.
Sean M. Kennedy, Money Correspondent:
Money Matters, by Gather Correspondent Sean M. Kennedy, is published every Thursday to Gather Essentials: Money.
Money Matters is a practical look at money and how developments in the American economy may affect you.
Sean is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.
Keep up with Sean’s other postings and Gather activity by joining his Gather network at skennedy.gather.com
You’ll find Sean and other Money Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other Money experts, at Money.gather.com
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Comments: 15
My mother, although she was born in the US, was a child of recent immigrants and went to school speaking virtually no English. There were no ESL programs in the 1930's and she was made fun of by many of her classmates. But, she assimilated and learned English quickly just by listening and working hard. She graduated at the top of her HS class. My grandparents sat down with her each night and learned English from her. There were no immigrant programs for adults, either.
How is it that someone like my mom could have accomplished that? The answer is that her parents expected it of her.
I have to agree with Sheryl O. when she states that parental involvement, or even support, is key to changing the sad state of education. I literally spend every night, weekend and day off pounding away at my lesson plans, fixing them, tweaking them, or throwing them out. Despite all the hours I spend thinking, reflecting, teaching, re-teaching, attending professional development conferences, etc., the only time I see real change is when a parent supports our efforts in the school.
I had a dream one night that I was trying to get to work on time but needed to get home and change my clothes. I was wearing a cheerleading outfit and wanted to put on my work clothes. I believe I had that dream because I spend so much time trying to motivate my students to want to learn. I wish parents could help me make the students believe that education is important. I would give anything to one year have a class nearly full with students who were eager to learn. I have tried entertaining them, lecturing them, showing them how much I truly care, and yet nothing works like having a student come from a home that values and insists on a good education.
I've heard this same tale from other teachers as well, and that's why I noted that greater parental involvement is necessary to fix the problem. In fact, it's critical.
I know of teacher here in LA who is quitting because he says he spends too much time discipling and not enough teaching. That's the fault of disengaged parents.
In poor communities, I'm sure that some parents are just too busy working long hours - sometimes at more than one job - to come meet with teachers, much less help out in the classroom.
But other parents just don't value education. And if you're the child of immigrants who don't speak English very well, if at all, you won't find much help at home with homework and studying. Some immigrant parents aren't even even literate in their native tongues and have limited education themselves. This is a difficult situation with no easy solution.
Having seniors read to younger students is helpful on both ends. The seniors report feeling a sense of duty and enjoy having something to do, and somewhere to go, in retirement. Having older students mentor and tutor younger students is also a great idea. Again, both sides are well-served.
Other parents are simply criminally negligent in their parental duties. That means the rest of society has to pay for their lapses and irresponsible behavior. They need to be held accountable.
The dream that many immigrants who came to this country in the past was to work hard and make sure that their children get a good education so that they could have opportunities that were not available to the parents. Although they were poor and illiterate (like my grandparents) they saw education as the prime factor in making their children's lives better. You still see that today in most of the Asian immigrant community. So, blaming poverty and immigrant illiteracy doesn't hold water for me. I think it's more of a cultural thing - and we can see that within populations that are generations beyond original immigrants in this country.
Now, define functional literacy as 20 and above, and 20% of the population fails to attain functional literacy.
There is an issue, to "function" in a society that depends on the written word, you must be able to understand the written word. American society is increasingly dependent on written communication.
I am reminded of an anecdote, my father related to me many years ago.
A gentleman farmer bought a swing set for his children. He tried putting it together, read the directions over and over, kept getting it wrong. His hired hand, unable to read at all, watched, but did not offer to help. The farmer went to lunch, and when he came back the swing set was assembled. The hired hand was just putting up the tools.
Farmer asked the hired hand, "How did you do that?"
Hired hand responded, "I just used my head."
In this case the illiterate farm hand was functional, and the Farmer was functionally illiterate, or the directions were written for a pipe fitter and not for a farmer.
I am not going to quibble that the nation's illiteracy costs us money and more. I'm a firm believer that the better the citizenry is educated the better off the country will be; and vice versa. I'm a huge Joy of Reading, Knowledge in Reading person.
40 million is 13 percent of the population; which means that 87 percent of the population ARE functionally literate.
The article states that "50% of the chronically unemployed are not functionally literate; 33% of all welfare recipients are not considered to be functionally literate;.." which means that 50% of the chronically unemployed ARE considered functionally literate and 67% of all welfare recipients are too.
I'm thinking it seems an odd argument that illiteracy is hurting the labor markets when industry already cannot employee all of the functionally literate that are available.
I think the article silently leaps over a big gap in its references. It starts by describing illiteracy as the inability to read a bus schedule and fill out an application, then jumps to defining illiteracy as the inability to understand medical documents or voter information pamphlets. The language levels between these types of writings are significantly different. What is Level 3 proficiency; high school, some college, bachelor degree?
I'd like to know if the Manhattan Institute's claim that per pupil spending has doubled since the 1970s was adjusted for the changes in the economy over the past thirty-plus years; and if so, exactly how it was adjusted.
Ohio has recently been increasing its state level spending per pupil, but the increase in expenditures have been for replacing outdated buildings, not increasing the quality or number of teachers and educational materials. The questions on bettering education for all is still at hand.
There is a challenge of taking 30 kids with different learning abilities and styles and keeping them all interested and motivated to learn. This includes gifted children as well as those that struggle-- but less of a focus is given to them because at least they can function
I've taught in elementary and high school. The foreign kids always seem to be more eager, more attentive, and faster learning. I'm sure parents have a lot to do with it. The problem I seen is -- we spend more than enough money on education but spend it on the wrong kids. A non-performing kid should be kicked out before high school and sent to a 'process education' where they learn to do practical jobs, like how to understand checkbooks, count money, run a cash register, a trade, etc.
The school system I teach in spends 3 - 4 - 5 times as much on problem kids that almost never perform except to disrupt the class, back talk, add nothing of value to their own education. Kick them out!
We have kids so disruptive they each get their own teacher. Isn't this absurd? No child left behind means few children will get a quality education and the bar is being set so low anyone can get by without performance. In Europe if you don't do well in middle-school (age 14) they don't let you into the higher programs. We've catered to the lowest common denominator for so long education has become somewhat of the joke. Much of my time is babysitting trouble -makers and don't even think of correcting them or the system falls on you. I made the mistake of sending a kid to the office once. I was the one on the hot seat for doing it. I was told the parents could sue, I shouldn't have made an example of him, and the other teachers just let him 'do his thing' so why should I complain? The kids in my school eat during class, drink soda, chew gum and candy, and in general don't even pretend to pay attention. They've learned there is no punishment and have taken full advantage of it.
I have a bit of a "problem" child, myself, and am at the point of seriously debating home school. He is bright and learns well enough if he's given time to absorb it. Timed tests completely destroy him, and as soon as he hears the test is timed, he puts his pencil down and doesn't even try anymore. I do his homework with him every night, as well as extra work I've asked for from the teacher and workbooks I've bought at stores and brought home. I care deeply about his education, and have spent time and energy making sure he knows this.
I agree with David D's last sentence, though. It used to be we were AFRAID of our teachers and very afraid of the principal. They had paddles, and used them liberally. When I was in school we didn't lock our lockers. There was no need. I think if teachers were permitted and better equipped to control classrooms, more students in the US would be learning.