Literacy
Literacy, the ability to read and write. Illiteracy is the lack of this ability; the term is generally applied only to persons older than 14 or 15 years. Literacy may be defined as (1) ability to sign one's name; (2) completion of a certain amount of schooling, such as five or six years; or (3) ability to read and write a simple message.
However, there is no sharp division between literacy and illiteracy; a person could meet these criteria but yet be considered functionally illiterate—that is, unable to understand the reading matter encountered in modern life. For instance, driver's license manuals, job applications, and instruction booklets generally require more than an elementary reading level.
Illiteracy does not, by itself, imply below-average intelligence. Illiteracy may result from a lack of parental encouragement, inadequate access to instruction, or an ineffective method of reading instruction.
Various organizations, including Laubach Literacy International and Literacy Volunteers of America, sponsor literacy programs. Many of these programs help people attain mathematical, speaking, and other basic skills as well as help them learn to read.
As would be expected, illiteracy rates are much higher in underdeveloped countries than in developed ones—they are highest in Africa, Latin America, and Asia (excluding Japan and Israel). In some of the countries in these areas, the rate is 80 per cent or more. The lowest illiteracy rates—5 per cent or less, based on amount of schooling—are found (not necessarily in this order) in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the countries of northern and central Europe.
Worldwide, it is estimated that 29 per cent of the adults are illiterate, but some authorities believe that 65 to 70 per cent could not pass a simple reading test. In the United States, for example, less than 1 per cent of the population 14 years and older are illiterate in terms of schooling completed, but it is estimated that about 20 per cent of the population over age 16 are functionally illiterate.