Reading the numbers: 130 million American adults have low literacy skills, but funding differs drastically by state
(March 16, 2022)
[M]ore than half of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 (54%) read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level.
The most recent national survey on adult literacy is from 2012-2017, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics as part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The U.S. ranks 16th among the 33 OECD nations included in this study.
While Feinberg said anyone can have low literacy, adults who have poor reading skills tend to live in underserved communities with few resources, or what she calls a “print desert.” In these areas, she said there is little signage beyond local stores as well as few libraries and bookstores.
“They likely went to schools that weren't supported by a wealthy tax base,” Feinberg said. “And so, they don't have good internet access. They may not know how to use the internet if [they] can't spell very well. You're [going to] have a really hard time finding things.”
Typically, [adult basic education] and literacy programs are federally funded through the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 1998. Feinberg said this federal funding goes toward communities based on the percentage of people without a high school diploma. The funding is broken into basic funding for adult education and literacy services and the Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) program, which supports English language learners. However, Patterson said this funding is not enough to make sufficient impact. “Within the last couple of years, there's been more of an emphasis on getting additional funding,” she said. “But essentially, when you have the same amount of money, inflation [and] cost of living would imply that it's just going to get worse and worse.”
See also: Which states have the highest and lowest adult literacy rates? - source for map below:
See also: Highlights of PIAAC 2017 U.S. Results
PIAAC will release its next round of data (collected in 2023) next month.
