| Highlights |
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International
Literacy Day LIVE Interview on Today's TMJ4 - The
Morning Blend |
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International
Literacy Day Event Photos |
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FACTS
| General
Population |
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Among adults, over 30%
nationwide and over 27% (157,000+) in the city of Milwaukee
have low or very low levels of literacy, meaning they cannot
read at all or they struggle to read to their children, find
an intersection on a map, write a short letter explaining a
mistake on a credit card bill, etc. (2000 U.S. Census). |
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| Immigration |
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The number of foreign-born
residents in the U.S. rose by 145% to 35 million between the
mid-1970 and 2004 (Projected from 2000 U.S. Census). |
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Over 370,000 Wisconsin
residents over the age of five speak a language other than English
at home (1992 National Adult Literacy Survey). |
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| Poverty |
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Only 30% of adults with
very low literacy skills have full-time jobs
(2000 U.S. Census). |
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| Family,
Health & Education |
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Research shows that a
mother's educational attainment is positively related to higher
economic productivity, better health care, lower fertility rates,
and higher academic achievement by children
(Dr. Thomas Sticht, noted authority in adult education). |
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In 1998, an estimated
$73 billion of additional health care expenditures was due to
low, health literacy skills (National Academy on an Aging
Society). |
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| Business |
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Forty percent of manufacturers
say on principal reason they cannot implement new productivity
improvements is their employees' lack of reading, writing, math
or communication skills (2000 U.S. Census). |
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Nationally, state government
employees' lack of writing skills costs nearly $250 million
(USA Today, July 4, 2005). |
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| Corrections |
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Nearly 75% of prison
inmates have low or very low literacy skills
(National Institute for Literacy, 1994). |
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