Functional illiteracy
From Freepedia
Functional illiteracy refers to the inability of an individual to use reading, speaking, writing, and computational skills efficiently in everyday life situations. For example, being able to read and write text (or words) in his mother language, a functionally illiterate adult is unable to fill out an employment application, follow written instructions, read a newspaper, read traffic signs, or understand a school bus schedule, among many other daily functions inside his native language environment (his country, his culture, etc.). In short, when confronted with printed materials, adults without basic literacy skills cannot function effectively. These refers also to the inability of an individual to use the so called information and communication technologies (use a Personal Computer to work in a word processor, an Internet browser, a spreadsheet application, or use a cellular phone) adequately and efficiently, or the difficulty of learning new skills in a continuing education environment. Functionally illiterate are subjected to social intimidation, health risks, stress, low income, and other pitfalls associated with their inability.
The correlation between crime and functional illiteracy is well known to criminologists and sociologists throughout the world. It is estimated that 60 percent of adults in prisons are functionally or marginally illiterate and 85 percent of juvenile offenders have problems associated with reading, writing and basic math.
In the United States, according to Nation's Business magazine, an estimated 15 million adults holding jobs at the beginning of the 21st century were functionally illiterate. The American Council of Life Insurance reported that 75 percent of the Fortune 500 companies provide some level of remedial training for their workers.
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 because of low productivity, errors and accidents attributed to functional illiteracy.
The higher the level of literacy a person has, the more they are able to earn. You can see a graph showing this relationship at The Phonics Page.
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 the schools to bring students near the bottom to the basic level of cognitive proficiency, that the key link between formal schooling and civic literacy lies in the capacity of schools to assure the students attaining the functional literacy required to comprehend the basic texts and documents associated with competent citizenship.
