Just 2% of global adults read at top level
Little confession here: I’m a geek. While you’re out partying on Saturday night, I’m cuddled up with a warm study.
The latest object of my affection is the 2012 edition of the PIAAC, or Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies. (The name itself could not be understood by most of the people it surveyed!) [1]
The PIAAC is a huge, statistically significant study of adult literacy in developed countries. Every 10 years, the OECD (that’s Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to us mortals) looks at the literacy skills of adults between 16 and 65.
The average American reads at the 7th- to 8th-grade level.
— The Literacy Project [2]
In the most recent study, what the researchers found was disheartening …
4% are nonliterate.
Some 4% of Americans (global literacy rate: 3%) have Below Level 1 literacy. That means they are nonliterate. They can’t read well enough to perform activities of daily living in a modern society — let alone to take a literacy test.
Most of them can locate a single piece of information in familiar copy. But most of them cannot review a simple table identifying three candidates and the number of votes they received to identify which candidate earned the fewest votes.
14% have below-basic literacy levels.
14% of Americans (global literacy rate: 12%) have level 1 literacy. That means they can read and write at the below-basic level.
Most of them can identify which candidate earned the fewest votes from a simple table identifying three candidates and the number of votes they received. Most cannot count the number of countries in which the generic drug market accounts for 10% or more of drug sales from two paragraphs and a chart of generic drug use in 15 countries.
34% have basic literacy levels.
Half of U.S. adults can’t read a book written at the 8th-grade level.
— Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [3]
About one-third of Americans (global literacy rate: 34%) have Level 2 literacy. That means they have the ability to read and write at a basic level.
Most can count the number of countries in which the generic drug market accounts for 10% or more of drug sales from two paragraphs and a chart of generic drug use in 15 countries. But most cannot identify the link leading to the organization’s phone number from a website with several links, including “contact us” and “FAQ.”
Note that at this point, we have reached more than half of your audience members.
The people who manage this study are careful not to assign grade levels to these groups, but we can do a little correlating. Here’s what we know:
- Half of U.S. adults can’t read a book written at the 8th-grade level, according to the OECD. [4]
- The average American reads at the 7th- to 8th-grade level, according to The Literacy Project. [5]
- Medical information for the public should be written at no higher than an eighth-grade reading level, according to the American Medical Association, National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
So let’s estimate that the midline here is the break between 7th- and 8th-grade reading levels. That means half of U.S. adults read at the 7th-grade level and below, and half read at the 8th-grade level and above.
36% have intermediate literacy levels.
More than one-third of Americans (global literacy rate: 39%) have Level 3 literacy. That means they can read and write at an intermediate level.
Most can identify the link leading to the organization’s phone number from a website with several links, including “contact us” and “FAQ.” But most cannot click to the second page of search results from a library website to identify the author of a book called Ecomyth.
12% have proficient literacy levels.
Now we reach the cognitively elite: 12% of Americans (global literacy rate: 12%) have what is now called Level 4/5 literacy. At Level 4, that means they can read and write at a proficient level.
Most can click to the second page of search results from a library website to identify the author of a book called Ecomyth. But most cannot review search results from a library website to identify a book suggesting that the claims made both for and against genetically modified foods are unreliable.
If you write for these proficient readers, you’ll miss 88% of adults in the United States.
2% have high literacy levels.
This year, for the first time ever, PIAAC combined the fourth and fifth literacy levels. That’s because there were no longer enough people at the highest level to count.
“Across all countries, only 2 percent of adults performed at Level 5 on many of the variables in the literacy and numeracy scales,” researchers report. Because of the low number, these are included among the 12% in Level 4/5.
This is the only group that can identify from search results a book suggesting that the claims made both for and against genetically modified foods are unreliable.
Write for these folks, and you’ll miss 98% of your readers!
U.S. literary average: below-basic
Put it all together, and what do you get? Our average literacy score of 270 (global literacy rate: 273) out of 500 puts U.S. adults at Level 2, or below-basic, literacy.
U.S. literacy averages below basicResults of the 2013 PIAAC | |||
| Literacy level/score | Percentage of U.S. adults 16+ | Skills | Sample task |
| Below level 1 (Nonliterate) 0-225 | 4% | Locate a single piece of information in familiar copy. | Locate a single piece of information in familiar copy |
| Level 1 Below basic 226-275 | 14% | Read relatively short digital, print or mixed copy to locate a single piece of information. | Review a simple table identifying three candidates and the number of votes they received to identify which candidate earned the fewest votes |
| Level 2 Basic 276-325 | 34% | Find information that may require low-level paraphrasing and drawing low-level inferences. | Review two paragraphs and a chart of generic medicine usage in 15 countries to count the number of countries in which the generic drug market accounts for 10% or more of drug sales |
| Level 3 Intermediate 326-375 | 36% | Identify, interpret or evaluate one or more pieces of information that require inference. | Review a website with several links, including “contact us” and “FAQ” and identify the link leading to the organization’s phone number |
| Level 4 Proficient 376-500 | 10% | Perform multiple-step operations to integrate, interpret or synthesize information from complex texts, which may require complex inferences. | Click to the second page of search results from a library website to identify the author of a book called Ecomyth. |
| Level 5 | 2% | Integrate information across multiple dense texts; construct syntheses, ideas or points of view; or evaluate evidence-based arguments. | Identify from search results a book suggesting that the claims made both for and against genetically modified foods are unreliable |
That places the U.S. overall literacy score at lower than the international average. But note that Japan and Finland, at the top of the list, have nothing to brag about.
U.S. literacy averages below basic
Results of the 2013 PIAAC
In this environment, how well are we doing reaching these folks with our blog posts, intranet stories or email newsletters?
As George Bernard Shaw wrote:
“The problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”
Learn more
- Reach all of your readers, even those with low literacy
- Readability helps everyone, even highly literate people
- Get more data from the National Center for Education Statistics
Get more information about national assessment, levels of literacy, the literacy gap, how literacy rates vary among high school students and those ages 15 and under, and English literacy among foreign-born adults from the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education.
How can you reach all of your readers?
Read it and weep. More than half of all Americans have basic or below-basic reading skills, according to the DOE’s latest adult literacy test.
How well are you doing reaching these folks with your messages?
To reach all of your readers — regardless of their reading level — please join me at Rev Up Readability, — our tight-writing workshop that begins on Feb. 22.
You’ll learn to make every piece you write easier to read and understand. You’ll walk away with secrets you can use to reach more readers, measurably improve readability and sell concise writing to management. And you’ll learn to write messages that get more people to read your piece, read more of it, read it faster, understand it better and remember it longer.
Save up to $100 with our group discounts.
[1] “Literacy, Numeracy, and Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments Among U.S. Adults: Results from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012,” Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, or PIAAC
[2] Lisa Marchand, “What is readability and why should content editors care about it?” Center for Plain Language, March 22, 2017
[3] Valerie Strauss, “Hiding in plain sight: The adult literacy crisis,” Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2016
I find it hilarious and sad that an article lamenting declining literacy rates couldn’t append a date to said article so readers know exactly when it was written. The data are derived from 2011-12, the bottom of the article is selling something for April of 2020, meanwhile it’s December of 2019. With all the smartphones in the hands of our youth, I’d bet the house the numbers have worsened appreciably in the last seven or eight years ago.
We’re doomed folks, and it’s all by design.
Hi Dr Weiss,
In paragraph 3, it clearly states that the study is done every 10 years. I don’t know what you read that made you think it was current data. Sadly, I am convinced that the next study will show literacy rates in the US are even lower than previously reported.
Thank you, Dick. You are right, these are huge, global studies, snapshots done every 10 years. This is the latest snapshot. The next snapshot will come out in 2023. I, too, expect it to show that literacy rates have declined further. Until then, this is the latest and best research on the topic available.
I agree, Dean, by the time the 2023 study is released in 2024, the literacy rates are likely to have gone down. In the meantime, this is the latest snapshot available.
Of course, those of us who can read could clearly tell when the data were collected. 😉
“From 2011 to 2012, the PIAAC set about finding how well people in developed nations performed on three levels of literacy:”
Thank you for saying “data were”!!!
How is it possible to have 2 percent at a college reading level when ~ 35 percent of US adults have a bachelors degree or higher?
Yes. People don’t read at their grade level. They lose reading skills over time. And people don’t want to read at their grade level.
I helped run a literacy Center for 18 years, I am in agreement with the statistics. I went to teachers college in the sixties and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and was certified to teach grades 1 to 4.. However, I was not taught how to teach children to read. I was taught to follow the Teachers Guides. That got us where we are today. I did find folks that knew how to teach reading -The Reading Reform Foundation- and they helped me. Teachers Colleges still are teaching whatever the curriculum companies promote. It’s similar to the drug companies training the doctors. I now am a private tutor helping children and adults learn to read.
thank you!
This explains a LOT. Wow.
Is there a typo, though, in the summary? It says, “Our average literacy score of 270 (global literacy rate: 273) out of 500 puts U.S. adults at Level 2, or below-basic, literacy.” But below-basic is indicated as level 1, and basic as level 2. Is there a typo in there, or am I misunderstanding the summarizing claim?
Thank you, Rachel. Typo fixed.
Hello Ann, I am not sure if this is the best way to contact you but I had a question about this article. First thank you! You so clearly summarized what I was trying to understand from the PIAAC data. I was wondering though where you were able to find what grade level equates to the proficiency level. for example indicating that a Level 3 literacy equates to a sixth- to eighth-grade level. This is something I thought would be simple to find, how the literacy levels equate to grade levels but aside from this article I have been unable to do so. Thank you!
In an old article that didn’t survive my many office file purges, M. If I run across it again, I will footnote it here.
I would appreciate that, thank you! I just want to double check how the levels correspond to grade levels as I have been unable to find this information elsewhere.
Sorry, but it looks like you “fixed” it the wrong way. The text still says the US is Level 2, while the chart clearly puts the US in the Level 1 category. Am I missing something?
I think your typo fix just moved the error – it now says, “puts U.S. adults at Level 2, or basic, literacy”, but the US in the chart is clearly in the Level 1 (below basic) section.
You fixed the description of “Level 2”, but the typo was actually just the 2. It should read, “puts U.S. adults at Level 1, or basic, literacy”.
*should read, “puts U.S. adults at Level 1, or below basic, literacy”. – this is what I get for not proof-reading 😛
Thank you!
Regarding the comment by Dean Weiss M.D. on December 17, 2019,
as a retired research scientist and published technical writer I would
also appreciate knowing on what date the article “What’s the latest
U.S. literacy rate?” was posted online — for references purposes. I
would like to cite it in a presentation I soon plan to give to a county
board of supervisors on the subject of variations in literacy on the
part of the general public. Thank you for the article!
Hi Terrence, the article was published March 31, 2019 and updated on Jan. 20, 2020. Why don’t you circle back via email to inquire about permission to use in your presentation?
So I’m concerned about the accuracy of the tests performed on the subjects. A person could be literate but not tech-literate and failed some of the tests.
Is there a study that teases apart these two skills?
I’ve found that Americans aren’t particularly tech-savvy.
Hi Lucy, You could read the full study to understand the methodology and then decide. The study looked at literacy with words, technical literacy and numeracy, or numerical literacy. As you suggest, they didn’t do well with technical literacy either. However, the word literacy tests were pencil and paper, so their technical literacy would not have affected the results. This was a worldwide test. Turns out people in all developed nations, including Japan and Singapore, are not particularly tech-savvy either. The U.S. ranks about in the middle of all developed nations in word, technical and numeric literacy.
This makes me a little sad
Perhaps it’s my own numeracy, but the chart is titled “Wer’re No. 13!”. With a note at the bottom of the chart indicating only seven countries scored lower than the United States. If the the US were 13th, with seven scoring worse than the US, then the total number of countries surveyed would be 20. However, the article states 23 countries were included. The US is the 16th country on the list with 7 countries which scored worse than the US for a total of 23 countries.
No, definitely my numeracy. Thank you for calling this to my attention!
As compared to other states Fort Bend County probably has the most well-educated population in the country, with a literacy rate of more than 24%.
There were about 4800 respondents that were selected out of the original (also very small) sample size.
4800/350000000 = .00001371 = .001371 percent
So I’m expected to accept this infinitesimal fraction of the population as an accurate representation? This isn’t a single germ line of corn we are talking about, it’s massive populations of human beings.
This is not a valid representative sample. I’m sorry, it just isn’t.
Gordon McAlary – God rest his soul – was my elementary school teacher in Grade 5, perhaps 6. An Australian transplanted to Canada, he brought with him some techniques that I credit to this day as fundamental to the development of literacy at at an early age.
He would have the kids sit in pairs, and read alternate pages out loud to each other from a variety of books, for about a half-hour every day; most of them a little bit challenging for the age group. We would have not only spelling bees, but “meaning” bees: several new words were introduced to our vocabulary daily, which we were required to enter into a personal notebook, and we would compete weekly to explain their meanings.
We also has SRA kits. I don’t know that any of the above is done in school anymore.