More than half of American adults read below a sixth-grade level, a record high number that experts call a “silent crisis” affecting the economy, health care and communities nationwide.
About 54 percent of Americans ages 16 to 74 read at or below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level – around the age 11 or 12 – according to data cited by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. That amounts to around 130 million people.
“We call it a silent crisis because it’s not talked about that much,” Andrew Roberts, president of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, told “Aging Untold,” a 30-minute weekday talk show from Gray Media exploring the realities and challenges of aging in America.
The issue can show up in everyday situations, including navigating health care, understanding paperwork and finding employment. Someone with limited literacy skills may have trouble understanding a medical consent form, navigating a telehealth system or following written instructions.
In the Kansas City, Missouri, area alone, for example, about 680,000 adults have low literacy skills, ranging from being able to understand only basic words and phrases to having little or no understanding of written language, according to “Aging Untold.”
Counties with the lowest literacy rates often also face higher poverty, poorer health outcomes and less economic mobility, according to the foundation. Literacy rates also vary by region, with the Midwest and Northeast generally reporting higher, more consistent levels, while the South and West see greater disparities between counties.
The economic consequences can also be significant. People with limited reading skills can face difficulty finding well-paying jobs, while low literacy has also been linked to higher health care costs.
ProLiteracy, an adult-literacy nonprofit, estimates that as much as $238 billion in annual health care costs are associated with low adult literacy skills, in part because people may misunderstand treatment instructions or preventive-care information.
The problem can also carry from one generation to the next.
“When we see adults with low literacy, children raised in those households, they have a 72 percent chance of growing up with low literacy themselves,” Roberts said.
For Bernadette Graves, 61, the struggle with literacy followed her well into adulthood. She said she made it through 12th grade without learning how to read, according to “Aging Untold.”
“Couldn’t read. Still can’t spell,” Graves said. “They were just passing us back then.”
Graves spent 20 years working as a custodian and cafeteria server, but does not know what her earning potential might have been if she had learned to read earlier.
She eventually enrolled at Literacy KC, an adult education program in Kansas City, that serves about 2,000 adults each year, according to the report.
Graves began the program reading around a kindergarten or first-grade level. She now reads at a fifth-grade level, according to “Aging Untold.”
“It feels good. I keep books in my car so if I’m waiting on somebody I can read,” Graves said.
That kind of progress, Roberts said, shows that adult literacy is a problem that can be addressed.
“This is a solvable problem, right? We know how to teach people to read,” he said.
Read More
