Forbes reports Low Literacy Levels Among U.S. Adults Could Be Costing The Economy $2.2 Trillion A Year
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy engaged Gallup to estimate the cost of adult literacy to the US economy. Gallup estimates that low levels of adult literacy could be costing the U.S. as much $2.2 trillion a year.
Forbes reports:
According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of U.S. adults 16-74 years old – about 130 million people – lack proficiency in literacy, reading below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level. That’s a shocking number for several reasons, and its dollars and cents implications are enormous because literacy is correlated with several important outcomes such as personal income, employment levels, health, and overall economic growth.
“America’s low literacy crisis is largely ignored, historically underfunded and woefully under-researched, despite being one of the great solvable problems of our time. We’re proud to enrich the collective knowledge base with this first-of-its-kind study, documenting literacy’s key role in equity and economic mobility in families, communities and our nation as a whole.”
British A. Robinson, President and CEO
The Barbara Bush Foundation
See the full Forbes article here.
