Tuesday, October 01, 2019

More Than One-in-Four People in the U.S. Have Not Read a Book in the Past Year


At first glance, I found the numbers shown in this recent Pew Research Center study to be both astounding and terribly sad. But then it hit me. How many people in this country, I wondered, simply cannot read at all. What I found helped explained why 27% of the people in the U.S. have not read even one book in the past year, but it made me feel even worse about the state this country is in. 

As indicated on the graph shown above, 32% of men and 22% of women have not read a single book in the past twelve months. The percentage of non-readers is further broken down by race, education, and geographic location but there are no real surprises there. For instance, 22% of Whites are nonreaders, and the same can be said for 33% of Blacks and 40% of Hispanics. And the more schooling a person has, the more likely it is that they are a reader - as I would have expected. A little more surprising is that there is such a large gap between residents of urban/suburban areas and rural areas. But even that is at least partially explained by the relative difference between the two areas when it comes to access to educational opportunities and availability of reading material.

No, the real shocker is that 14% of this country's residents are illiterate and couldn't read a book even if they wanted to read one. Just take a look at this eye-opening statement provided by the Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy:
1. 32 million adults can not read in the United States equal to 14% of the population.
2. 21% of US adults read below the 5th grade level.
3. 19% of high school graduates can not read.
4. 85% of juveniles who interact with the juvenile court system are considered functionally illiterate.
5. 70% of inmates in America’s prisons can not read above the fourth grade level.
If that doesn't scare you, nothing will. Illiteracy is the cause of so many of the world's worst problems, including poverty and crime. It shouldn't be this hard to fix the problem - should it?

13 comments:

  1. Absolutely shocking. I cannot believe it. Is it just illiterate in English? If they include in their numbers people from countries that don't speak English, and they haven't learned yet, that makes a difference.

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    1. The odd thing, Nan, is that I can't find a clear answer to your question anywhere. Even more confusing, I found a couple of sites saying that the U.S. has a LITERACY rate of close to 99%. The catch in that statistic, however, is that it looks like a 7th grade reading level counts as literacy in their particular calculation. Stats are tricky and can so easily be manipulated that I don't know what really to think.

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    2. And look at the number 1 pointed I quoted. Shouldn't that be "cannot"? And do they mean that they can read in countries other than the U.S.? That kind of presentation doesn't do a lot to build my confidence in the study.

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  2. Pew is supposed to be reputable, but who knows. Stats are always worrisome. And I think there are plenty of literate people who choose not to read, or read only a little. But still, very worth posting and thinking about. Man, the bloggers I know read tons every year - way more than I do, and I am certainly a reader!

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    1. I've always been a reader but I'm reading more now than ever before these days. And I seem to have some kind of a sense of urgency that keeps me stacking up way more books than I'll ever have time to read. I just can't imagine not being a reader - but the real reason i blog about books is that I run into so few people in the real world who want to talk about books that I have to search for them all over the world via the net. The good news is that they are out there. That keeps me happily reading - and talking about it.

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    2. I think that's what drew a lot of us to the internet twenty or so years ago. I found people who loved to read like I did. And people who read the books I like to read. I'm still so amazed that I can "run into" folks who love Miss Read, and old English mysteries.

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    3. Do you sometimes wonder when you're reading an older, now obscure-to-the-world book who else somewhere is reading the same exact book at that moment? I find myself wondering that kind of thing when I'm reading something from the forties or fifties or listening to old music from the twenties or thirties, etc.

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  3. I know several folks who don't read books. While it is beyond my understanding, many people have too many other means of entertainment and associate reading with effort. On the other hand, those I know who do read, read or listen to audio books frequently.

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    1. I know lots of people who feel the same. But I just can't imagine shutting out such a tremendous source of learning and entertainment that way. Of course, they don't even realize what they are missing, so I guess it's pretty easy for them to ignore books.

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  4. Those are some of the saddest statistics I've ever seen! I work with kids who struggle with reading and most of the time it's because they have no books at home, and their parents never read to them. It breaks my heart every time.

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    1. I hear you, Lark. I volunteered as a reader at a local elementary school for a while and I vividly remember one little boy telling me how much he wished his father would read to him at home. I like to believe that he is still out there somewhere reading for pleasure.

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  5. These are some sad, sad statistics! I'm so glad I learned to read when I was little, always had access to books, and was always encouraged to read. It's made all the difference in my life.

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    1. People like us were the lucky ones, Susan. The greatest gift a parent can give to a child is access to books at a very young age - and the encouragement to read and enjoy them, especially by example.

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