Why do millions of Americans struggle with reading and writing?

Christian Science Monitor by Stacy Teicher Khadaroo | May. 9, 2009 (Special Report)

For the first time, a detailed portrait of America's least literate adults is emerging.

About 30 million people – 14 percent of the US population 16 and older – have trouble with basic reading and writing. Correlating factors that were explored in a new government report include poverty, ethnicity, native language background, and disabilities.

Of these 30 million people, 7 million are considered "nonliterate" in English because their ... Full Story »

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Kristin Gorski
3.5
 by Kristin Gorski - May. 10, 2009

An important report is cited, and the reporter includes key insights from it. Heavy on statistics but light on context. Takes from key stakeholders are missing, leaving this article incomplete.

Adult literacy “is a core social issue that if we could fix as a nation, we would make inroads into fixing many other social problems,” says David Harvey, president and CEO of ProLiteracy, an advocacy group based in Syracuse, N.Y. “Low literacy levels are correlated with higher rates of crime, problems with navigating the healthcare system, problems with financial literacy. We know that some of the folks who signed subprime mortgages didn’t understand what they were signing.”

This last sentence adds another dimension to the mortgage and housing crisis in the U.S.

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