Functional Illiteracy

A quick note following up on the previous post

My numbers on functional illiteracy among adults in the U.S. in the last post are from the PIACC survey, and I defined the fraction of adults below Level 1 as being functionally illiterate. Here are some more facts, responding to DMs and questions:

1. Yes, the U.S. is looking really bad at 28% functionally illiterate. But 22.5% of Germans, 31% of Spaniards and a staggering 53.4% of Chileans are functionally illiterate. The Nordics are doing much better, but still Finland and Sweden are running at around 12%.

2. The U.S. has participated in 3 cycles--2012/14, 2017 and 2023--and the first and the third are 10 years apart. Conveniently, the age-splits are shown in 10 year bands, so (say) 25-34 year olds in 2013 will be 35-44 year olds in 2023, if net migration can be assumed away. I put together the picture for the U.S. and it is not good, with declines of 10-20 points in every 10 year block. For context, 225 is the upper end of PIACC Level 1, which is functionally illiterate and around 250 puts you squarely at PIACC Level 2, which is just about able to read and comprehend basic instructions. At this rate, by the time the current cohort hits their 40s, the average person will be close to functionally illiterate in the U.S.