Policy Hub

In the United States, 54% of American adults read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level, and nearly one in five adults reads below a third-grade level. Lower literacy rates directly correlate to higher unemployment rates, reduced income, and overall impacts U.S. competitiveness on the global stage. Understanding both K-12 literacy rates as well as adult literacy rates at a local level is critical to improve overall literacy policy and drive access to literacy programming.