The following lists statistics regarding literacy and aliteracy from a variety of authoritative sources:

U.S. Students Who Read for Fun on Their Own Time, by Race and Ethnicity
Chart from the Pew Research Eye article "Among many U.S. children, reading for fun has get less common, federal data shows" by Katherine Schaeffer. November 12, 2021.

"The shares of American 9- and 13-yr-olds who say they read for fun on an nigh daily basis have dropped from nearly a decade ago and are at the lowest levels since at least the mid-1980s, according to a survey conducted in late 2019 and early 2020 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Among both age groups, the percentages who said in the 2019-20 school year that they 'read for fun on [their] own time almost every day' were at their everyman points since the question was first asked in 1984, co-ordinate to the survey, which was fielded among U.S. public and private school students before the COVID-19 outbreak. It is unclear whether the pandemic may have changed these patterns." – Pew Enquiry Center, "Among many U.South. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal information shows," November 2021.

The 2013 National Assessment of Teaching Progress (NAEP) reading test results demonstrate that far too many young people go on to read below grade level. Lx five pct of all U.Due south. fourth graders scored "beneath proficient," which means that they are not reading at grade level. Just 35 percent of fourth graders are reading at or in a higher place class level. In addition, 64 pct of eighth graders are reading below class level, whereas 36 per centum are reading at or to a higher place class level. Still, these statistics practice show an improvement at both grade levels. In 1992, 72 pct of 4th graders and 71 percentage of eighth graders were reading beneath grade level.  – U.S. Department of Educational activity, "The Nation'southward Report Card," 2013.

In the United states of america, 14 pct of the adult population—a staggering 32 million adults—cannot read.  "What's more shocking is that we haven't moved that needle in 10 years.  We know that literacy helps people escape the bonds of poverty and live longer.  We know that people who are literate are more than inclined to vote, have part in their community, and seek medical help for themselves and their families. They're also ameliorate equipped to accept advantage of knowledge jobs, which are growing at explosive rates."  – Marcie Craig Postal service, Executive Director of International Literacy Association, in a panel discussion at the Institute of International Education in New York Urban center, April 2015.

"Over the by iv decades, the share of jobs requiring some class of postsecondary education continued to rise, while the literacy performance of American 13- and seventeen-year-olds remained apartment, according to the National Cess of Educational Progress (NAEP).  More than threescore percentage of twelfth-course students scored beneath the good level in reading achievement, and 27 percent scored below the basic level in reading. This ways these lowest-performing high schoolhouse seniors do not even have fractional mastery of the advisable form-level knowledge and skills.

Low reading achievement does not equally affect all students. More than a third of Hispanic and African American twelfth graders read below basic level. Many students who struggle to read and write well brand upward a substantial portion of the one.2 meg students who leave high schoolhouse each year without a diploma. The consequences for the individual and the costs to the nation are staggering in terms of lost wages and earnings over a lifetime. Estimates for dropouts, who typically have low literacy skills, are on the society of about $335 billion per year. For those who gain entry into the workplace, private industry spends an estimated $3.1 billion annually to bolster the literacy skills of entry-level workers." – Mariana Hayes, Alliance for Excellent Education, "Nativity-Through-Form-Twelve Comprehensive Literacy Plan" published on All4ed.org website, April 2015.

"The above-average performance of U.S. students on international comparisons does not necessarily mean that their literacy skills are adequate or satisfactory for the demands of the modern economy and modernistic democracy. …almost 2-thirds of all students do not attain proficiency in cognition-based literacy and comprehension skills past the end of middle schoolhouse. To the extent that loftier schoolhouse success, as well as later educational and economic success, depends on the acquisition of these higher-order skills in middle schoolhouse, many U.Due south. students enter high school in need of substantial improvement in literacy." – Sean Reardon, Rachel Valentino, and Kenneth Shores in "Patterns of Literacy among U.Southward. Students" in "Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-Get-go Century," The Futurity of Children, Book 22, Number 2, Fall 2012.

"…about two-thirds of fourth graders, three-fourths of eighth graders, and three-fourths of 12th graders were reading at a "basic" level in 2011. About one-third of students at each grade level were reading at a "proficient" level. Over the past xl years literacy skills scores on assessment tests take not improved much—in abrupt dissimilarity to sizable increases in math scores over this same catamenia. The gaps in literacy skills by socioeconomic condition and race are hitting. Throughout simple and middle school, girls consistently score near 0.ii standard deviation above boys; the blackness-white and Hispanic-white gaps are each about 0.half dozen standard divergence; and the income gap (10th vs. 90th percentile of family income) is larger still. – Richard Murnane, Isabel Sawhill, and Catherine Snow in "Literacy Challenges for the Xx-First Century: Introducing the Outcome," The Future of Children, Volume 22, Number 2, Fall 2012.

Readers play a more active and involved office in their communities. The decline in reading, therefore, parallels a larger retreat from participation in civic and cultural life. The long-term implication of this study not merely affects literature but all the arts – equally well as social activities such every bit volunteerism, philanthropy, and even political date. – Dana Gioia, Chairman, NEA, "Reading at Chance: A Survey of Literary Reading in America," June 2004.

The literacy proficiency of a substantial proportion of the U.S. labor forcefulness is limited, and only a small-scale proportion of workers perform at a high literacy level. Workers with higher literacy scores are unemployed less and earn more than workers with lower literacy scores. Growth in instruction has historically been an important source of growth in worker productivity. – "Study on Instruction and the Economic system," National Heart for Teaching Statistics, 1996.

Less than half of the adult American population now reads literature. (Literature is defined every bit novels, short stories, plays and/or poetry.)  –NEA, "Reading at Adventure: A Survey of Literary Reading in America," June 2004.

The percentage of the U.S. developed population reading any books has declined past 7 percent over the past decade. – NEA, "Reading at Run a risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America," June 2004.

Of adults eighteen to 24 years of age, the literary reading rate decreased from nearly threescore percentage in 1982 to 43 pct in 2002 – a driblet of 17 percentage points. Young adults are reading much less than they used to. Making literary reading appeal to teenagers as well appears to be a significant problem. Long-term reading assessments, summarized by the National Constitute for Literacy, show that:

  • A smaller percentage of xiii- and 17-yr-olds read for fun daily in 1999 than in 1984.
  • A smaller pct of 17-year-olds saw adults reading in their homes in 1999 than in 1984.

– NEA, "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America," June 2004.

Reading proficiency scores for 9, 13, and 17 twelvemonth olds have not significantly risen since 1971. – U.S. Department of Education, "Digest of Education Statistics," 1998.

According to the contempo findings of iii statewide studies in Colorado, Alaska, and Pennsylvania, potent library media centers and programs aid students learn more than and score essentially college on standardized accomplishment tests than their peers in library impoverished schools.

Literature now competes with an enormous assortment of electronic media. While no single activity is responsible for the refuse of reading, the cumulative presence and availability of these alternatives have increasingly drawn Americans away from reading. – NEA, "Reading at Hazard: A Survey of Literary Reading in America," June 2004.

The average child spends most 38 hours a calendar week exposed to media exterior of school. – Children's Defense force Fund, "Land of America's Children," 2000.