This isn’t good.
A new study has proved that a large percentage of Americans are unable to read, and the problem is rapidly getting worse.
The research, which was carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics, found that the percentage of US adults ranking at the lowest literacy levels has experienced a “substantial” increase.
The results revealed a rise from 19% in 2017 to 28% in 2023.
The survey – also called the Survey of Adult Skills – is a “large-scale international study of key cognitive and workplace skills of adults”.
“Data is collected from adults ages 16–74 in the United States and ages 16–65 in the other countries,” the National Center for Education Studies states.
“It is designed to assess and compare adults’ skills in participating countries over a broad range of abilities, from reading simple passages to complex problem-solving skills, and to collect information on an individual’s skill use and background.”
However, compared with the other countries measured, overall the U.S. has stayed about even – as most saw a decline in skills from 2017 to 2023.
Speaking at a news conference earlier this week NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr explained that the results are “larger than what we would normally see in an international assessment, particularly literacy, which is a fairly stable construct.”
According to Carr, low scores don’t necessarily equal illiteracy. However, they can indicate a lack of literacy skills in the adult population.
In terms of why, exactly, there’s been such a “substantial” change since 2017, “it is difficult to say,” Carr added.
Along with an increase of adults lacking literacy, there was also an increased percentage of adults who lack numeracy and adaptive problem-solving skills.
