Magnitude and Causes of Illiteracy

Around the world, the impact of illiteracy on personal income varies but it is clear earning potential is limited. Illiterate people earn 30%-42% less than their literate counterparts and do not have the literacy skills required to undertake further vocational education or training to improve their earning capacity. One study shows the income of a person with poor literacy stays about the same throughout their working life. However, individuals with good literacy and numeracy skills can expect their incomes to increase at least two to three times what they were earning at the beginning of their careers. Young people who do not complete primary schooling are less likely to obtain jobs good enough to avoid poverty. Following are the main causes of poverty. Let us discuss them one by one.

Poverty

The magnitude of the literacy challenge facing many countries today is further complicated by the strong links between illiteracy and poverty. For example, there is a significant negative correlation between measures of poverty and the adult literacy rate, at both the international level (Figure 7.5) and at the sub national level in countries such as India that is, where poverty rates are higher, literacy rates tend to be lower. Noteworthy exceptions include countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Morocco and Tunisia, which have relatively low poverty and literacy rates. Millions of people cannot attend class because they are poor and they are needed to work to fulfill the needs of their daily life. Hunger and poverty are the concerns of millions of people. They have fewer choices in jobs, education, housing and other things. Poverty and illiteracy form a cycle that is difficult to break.

Social disparities

Gender

Gender disparities are either non-existent or minimal in countries with adult literacy rates at 95% or above. In almost all other countries, men have better reading and writing skills than women. On average, the literacy gaps between adult men and women are largest in South and West Asia (70% vs 46%), the Arab States (73% vs 51%) and sub-Saharan Africa (68% vs 52%). The gap between the female and male literacy rates is considerably greater in countries where the overall adult literacy rate is lower.

Age

In all countries, literacy rates vary across age groups. Typically, individuals aged 15–34 have higher literacy levels than those aged 45 and older, reflecting in large part the expansion of mass schooling throughout the world. In some countries, there are small decreases in literacy rates among younger age groups and then sharp declines among older age groups, especially after the age of 45. In other cases, the decline in literacy rates across age groups is fairly linear. Unsurprisingly, age disparities are smaller in high-literacy countries and larger in low-literacy countries. In countries with comparatively low literacy levels (e.g. Angola, Burundi, the Gambia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda and Zambia), the literacy rate among 25- to 34-year-olds is twice that of those aged 65 and older.