The Facts

Literacy empowers people to better their lives, the lives of their families and our entire community.

While illiteracy is a relatively unseen problem, it profoundly impacts our society.  U.S. Department of Education statistics reveal that 60% of prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems.  Illiteracy leads to low self-esteem, unemployment, poverty and crime. It is estimated that limited literacy skills cost business and taxpayers $20 billion in lost wages, profits and productivity annually.

Below are only some of the reasons why improving literacy is critical:

• Nationally, about 40% of fourth grade students are reading below grade level.  In some schools in Pima County that number approaches 60%.
• Without basic reading skills, children fall farther and farther behind in their learning in all subjects, until many feel so unsuccessful that they eventually drop out.  In fact, Arizona has one of the highest drop out rates in the nation.  It’s estimated that 90% of those who drop out of high school are reading below grade level, and 50% of all high school students cannot read at grade level.
• Early language and literacy (reading and writing) development begins in the first three years of life and is closely linked to a child’s earliest experiences with books and stories.
• Illiteracy begins early in the primary grades. Kindergarten through third grade is a critical time in the development of a child’s lifelong literacy.  During these years, children learn to read.  From fourth grade on, children are reading to learn.
• Arizona’s children are more likely than the national average to live in poverty, a single-parent family, a household with low educational attainment or a household where a language other than English is primarily or only spoken.
• At least half of all adults who are functionally illiterate live in poverty.
• Children whose parents can read are 5 to 6 times more likely to succeed in school.
• With 79% of Arizona schools have $1 or less per student per year spent towards the Arts, children’s artistic engagement during school hours is drastically limited (2008-09 AZ Arts Education Census Report).
• Nearly 1 in 5 adults in Arizona is functionally illiterate. That is, they can’t read or write well enough to read instructions or fill out an application. Nationally 43% are at the basic or below basic level of literacy.
• 80% of the fastest growing jobs in the U.S. require some post-secondary education.
• A rise of one percent in a nation’s literacy scores yields a 2.5% increase in labor productivity and a 1.5% increase in GDP per person. These raw numbers mean a real improvement in quality of life.
• The health care industry estimates $73 billion per year of unnecessary health care expenses attributable to poor literacy.