Recent Statistics

from ProLiteracy.org

• 759 million adults around the world are illiterate in their native languages.
• Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women.
• It's estimated that 30 million people over the age of 16 in the United States can barely read and write in English.
• Forty-three percent have basic literacy skills far below what is considered adequate for earning a living wage in today's technology and information-oriented society.
• The United States ranks fifth on adult literacy skills when compared to other industrialized nations.
• More than 65 percent of all state and federal corrections inmates can barely read and write.
• Understanding a doctor’s orders, calculating how much medicine to take, reading disease-prevention pamphlets—all are ways adults can keep themselves and their families healthy. But millions of adults lack these essential “health literacy” skills, which adds between $106 billion and $236 billion a year to the cost of health care in the U.S.
• Low literacy’s effects cost the U.S. $225 billion or more each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime,  and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.

ProLiteracy

Literacy is the ability to read, write, compute, and use technology at a level that enables an individual to reach his or her full potential as a parent, employee, and community member.

Literacy Volunteers of Coconino County is an accredited affiliate of ProLiteracy. ProLIteracy provides professional development opportunities, accreditation certification and referral services to its 1200 affiliates nationwide.

ProLiteracy champions the power of literacy to improve the lives of adults and their families, communities, and societies.

• We believe in the power of literacy to end poverty, injustice, discrimination, and violence.
• We believe that literacy empowers adults to make a better life and world for themselves and their families.
• We know that adults who read raise children who read and do better in school and life.
• We know that literacy helps families be healthier, support themselves through work, be better citizens, and create a more fair and just society.

Visit this site to find some of the latest literacy news from ProLiteracy, the largest literacy organization in the world. ProLiteracy.org