Adult Literacy and Poverty

Adult literacy has a significant impact on a person’s ability to break the cycle of poverty for themselves and their family. Illiteracy limits economic opportunities, inhibits a parent’s ability to properly care for their children and often perpetuates the cycle of poverty. There are currently 781 million illiterate adults worldwide, a problem that is most prevalent in developing regions such as South Asia and Africa.1

With limited job opportunities, illiterate adults are often restricted to manual labor jobs that yield meager incomes.

Many daily wage laborers in developing countries are among the 736 million people worldwide, as of 2015, who earn $1.90 a day or less.2 For every year of education, earnings typically increase by 10 percent, and perhaps even more in low-income countries or for women.3

The world’s lowest literacy rates are among women in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.4

Their illiteracy affects not only their economic opportunities but also their ability to care for their children. If they can’t read warning labels, they may unintentionally harm their children or fail to take proper precautions with hazardous materials, or they may be oblivious to important medical information regarding their children’s health. As a result, adult literacy improves child mortality rates.5 When a child’s mother can read, that child is 50 percent more likely to survive past the age of 5.6 Children are also 24 percent less likely to be malnourished.7

Adult health is also impacted by their education.

According to the World Literacy Foundation, people who are illiterate, or have low levels of literacy, “are more likely to experience adverse health outcomes, have poor health literacy, and practice poor health behaviors.”8 With frequent illness comes decreased income for the many daily wage laborers who don’t get paid when they can’t work, which can promote poverty and its continuation.

In this way, and others, illiteracy affects people’s everyday lives and can contribute to their poverty.

Illiterate adults may be vulnerable to exploitation at the market because they can’t read or perform simple calculations, or in business transactions because they can’t read contracts. They may have trouble navigating from city to city, to find work or conduct other personal business, because they can’t read signs or bus schedules.


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