The National Literacy Act of 1991 defines literacy as “an individual’s ability to read, write and speak in English and compute and solve problems, necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential. 

• The U.S. Department of Education estimates 60% of the unemployed lack the basic skills necessary to be trained for high-tech jobs.
• It is estimated that limited literacy skills annually cost businesses and taxpayers $20 billion in lost wages, profits and productivity.
• Fifty percent (50%) of the Fortune 500 companies underwrite remedial employee training in basic skills at an annual cost of $300 million.
• Adults with the lowest literacy level work an average of 19 weeks per year compared to 44 weeks per year for adults with the highest literacy level.
• According to the National Adult Literacy Survey, individuals with the most limited literacy skills have a weekly median income of $240. Individuals with the highest literacy skills have a weekly median income of $681.

Also consider… 

• The U.S. Department of Education statistics show that 60% of prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems
• Children who live in homes with adults who are unemployed and dropouts are five to six times more likely to become dropouts themselves.
• Nationwide about 30% of the first-time college students take remedial courses because they cannot read, write or do math adequately.
• The Journal of the American Medical Association reports 46% of American adults cannot understand the label of their prescription medicine.

Local Literacy Statistics

Education Attainment (2000 U.S. Census)

For Buchanan County - Total Population Age 25 +	55,583	100%
Individuals Age 25+ with less than 9th grade	3,536	6.4%
Individuals Age 25+ without a high school diploma or equivalent. (individuals leaving school after the 9th grade)	6,766	18.5%

Educational Attainment is a self-reported number of the last grade in school completed.

The State of Literacy – National Adult Literacy Survey

For Buchanan County - Total Population Age 16 +	63,644	100%
Level 1 Literacy	6,547	15%
Level 2 Literacy	20,366	32%

What Does Level 1-5 Literacy Mean?

Level 1 – Adults at Level 1 can read a little but not well enough to fill out an application, read a food label, or read a simple story to a child. Generally those adults who score at Level 1 have difficulty performing such everyday tasks as locating an intersection on a street map, reading and comprehending a short newspaper article, or calculating total cost of an order form.

Level 2 – Adults at Level 2 usually can perform more complex tasks such as comparing, contrasting, or integrating pieces of information but usually do not possess higher-level reading and problem-solving skills.

Level 3–5 – Adults at Levels 3 through 5 usually can perform these more complex tasks on increasingly lengthy and dense texts and documents.