20% of American adults are functionally illiterate; another 34% have only marginal skills.

50% of American adults cannot read on an 8th grade level book.

44% of American adults do not read even 1 book a year.

13% of all 17-year olds, and 44% of minority youth are functionally illiterate.

75% of unemployed adults are illiterate.

60% of American prison inmates are illiterate, 85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading.

51% of illiterate adults live in small towns and suburbs, 44% in cities, and 8% in rural areas.

The estimated cost of literacy to taxpayers and businesses is $20 billion per year.

In an 1985 study of 36,000 adults age 21-25, 80% could not read a bus schedule, 73% could not interpret a newspaper, and 63% could not follow written map directions.

On average, an illiterate adult earns $42 less than a high school graduate with reading skills

75% of Fortune 500 companies provide some level of remedial training for an estimated 8 million workers at an estimated cost of $300 million per year.

The average kindergarten student has watched more than 5,500 hours (more then it takes to earn a bachelor's degree) of television

Only 27% of enlistees in the U.S. army are unable to read training manuals written at the 7th grade reading level.

Only 27% of newly created jobs are low skill.

In 1986 - 1987, the U.S. government spent $17 per illiterate adult to aid adult literacy efforts.