I’ve always wondered why when I freelanced, editors would press trying to aim your prose at a sixth grade reading level. Apparently the answer is because a majority of Americans do not have an advanced reading level, with 20% counted as illiterate. This study seems pretty damning, but I think that it’s actually unearthing two problems.

First, it appears states taking in refugees and migrant workers are having an issue getting resources to people who need help after emigrating. Creating programs to help English literacy would go a long way toward helping economic prospects, but could also foster some cultural exchange to ease tensions. Furthermore, impoverished Southern states continue to have difficulties with literacy. Which has been an historical issue that has yet to improve, but it is tied to the other issue in that it's about lack of resources to help illiterate adults learn to read.

Secondly, it shows many adults have poor literacy but aren’t illiterate. This would be people who are functionally literate but aren't advanced readers. Researchers explain this level as unable to synthesize multiple sources of information, process complex arguments, or understand financial and legal terminology. If you want to know why so many people follow politics more while knowing less, this is a starting point. I kid, but when you look at how many people are suckered into various financial scams and risks, it's a fair bet many are getting involved without fully understanding.

Researchers out print deserts (no access to anything beyond basic signage to read) as a reason for literacy decline, including the closing of libraries in poor communities. (Even those that remain open have become the epicenter of the US’s abysmal homeless policy.) While the internet can close this gap, the social media companies are pushing more people to video, which removes the textual benefits of the internet.

If a nonprofit could team up with schools and after-school programs to deliver Kindle like devices with a full copy of Wikipedia and every book in Project Gutenberg and Archive.org, you can help narrow resource gaps. Not everyone gifted these devices is going to latch to reading, and it’s nowhere near as helpful as real libraries. What it could do, like PBS, is provide a noncommercial way to reach kids who do want to learn.

I’d also like to see a similar survey on innumeracy, with similar breakdowns by state. I can find many articles on the general trend toward innumeracy and others about its consequences, but nothing with concrete numbers. Which feels ironic.