Adult Literacy Affects All of Us
Approximately 48 million adults in the United States can not read above a third-grade level (ProLiteracy). According to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, 54% of adults struggle to read, write, and comprehend proficiently, which impacts their daily lives.
“This crisis affects all of us—lying at the core of the multigenerational cycles of poverty, poor health, and low educational attainment that impact our families, businesses, communities, and our nation as a whole” — Barbara Bush Foundation.
The AACLC’s programs address adult literacy needs in Anne Arundel County, where the low literacy rate among adults is 14.9%. To see what literacy looks like in our communities, Maryland, and surrounding areas, visit the Barbara Bush Foundation’s Literacy Gap Map. (The Gap Map will be updated at the end of this year, revealing the impact of the pandemic.)
ProLiteracy publishes an adult literacy fact sheet that highlights some of the costs of low literacy, including the challenges faced by immigrants.
