Functional illiteracy is imprecisely defined, with different criteria from nation

to nation, and study to study.[2] However, a useful distinction can be made

between pure illiteracy and functional illiteracy. Purely illiterate persons

cannot read or write in any capacity, for all practical purposes. In

contrast, functionally illiterate persons can read and possibly write simple

sentences with a limited vocabulary, but cannot read or write well enough

to deal with the everyday requirements of life in their own society.

For example, an illiterate person may not understand the written

words cat or dog, may not recognize the letters of the alphabet, and may

be unable to write their own name. In contrast, a functionally illiterate

person may well understand these words and more, but might be incapable

of reading and comprehending job advertisements, past-due notices,

newspaper articles, banking paperwork, complex signs and posters, and so

on.

The characteristics of functional illiteracy vary from one culture to another,

as some cultures require better reading and writing skills than others. A

reading level that might be sufficient to make a farmer functionally literate in

a rural area of a developing country might qualify as functional illiteracy in

an urban area of a technologically advanced country. In languages

with regular spelling, functional illiteracy is usually defined simply as

reading too slow for practical use, inability to effectively use dictionaries

and written manuals, etc.

Links with poverty and crime[edit]

In developed countries, the level of functional literacy of an individual is

proportional to income level and inversely proportional to the risk of

committing crime. For example, according to the National Center for

Educational Statistics in the United States:[3]

Over 60% of adults in the US prison system read at or below the

fourth grade level

85% of US juvenile inmates are functionally illiterate

43% of adults at the lowest level of literacy lived below the poverty

line, as opposed to 4% of those with the highest levels of literacy.

According to begintoread.com:[4]

Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the fourth

grade will end up in jail or on welfare.

Three out of four individuals who receive food stamps read on the two

lowest levels of literacy.

 16-to-19-year-old girls at the poverty line and below with below-

average reading skills are 6 times more likely to have out-of-wedlock

children than their more literate counterparts.

Prevalence[edit]

In the United States, according to Business magazine, an estimated 15

million functionally illiterate adults held jobs at the beginning of the 21st

century. The American Council of Life Insurers reported that 75% of

theFortune 500 companies provide some level of remedial training for their

workers. All over the U.S.A. 30 million (14% of adults) are unable to

perform simple and everyday literacy activities.[5]

The National Center for Education Statistics provides more detail. [6] Literacy

is broken down into three parameters: prose, document, and quantitative

literacy. Each parameter has four levels: below basic, basic, intermediate,

and proficient. For prose literacy, for example, a below basic level of

literacy means that a person can look at a short piece of text to get a small

piece of uncomplicated information, while a person who is below basic in

quantitative literacy would be able to do simple addition. In the US, 14% of

the adult population is at the "below basic" level for prose literacy; 12% are

at the "below basic" level for document literacy; and 22% are at that level

for quantitative literacy. Only 13% of the population is proficient in these

three areasable to compare viewpoints in two editorials; interpret a table

about blood pressure, age, and physical activity; or compute and compare

the cost per ounce of food items.

The UK government's Department for Education reported in 2006 that 47%

of school children left school at age 16 without having achieved a basic

level in functional mathematics, and 42% fail to achieve a basic level of

functional English. Every year, 100,000 pupils leave school functionally

illiterate in the UK.[7]

Research findings[edit]

A Literacy at Work study, published by the Northeast Institute in 2001,

found that business losses attributed to basic skill deficiencies run into

billions of dollars a year due to low productivity, errors, and accidents

attributed to functional illiteracy.

Sociological research has demonstrated that countries with lower levels of

functional illiteracy among their adult populations tend to be those with the

highest levels of scientific literacy among the lower stratum of young people

nearing the end of their formal academic studies. This correspondence

suggests that a contributing factor to a society's level of civic literacy is the

capacity of schools to ensure students attain the functional literacy required

to comprehend the basic texts and documents associated with competent

citizenship.[8]