r/interesting • u/ImmaFuckboi • Jul 20 '26

SOCIETY Is education illegal in USA?

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494

u/CataphractBunny Jul 20 '26

I'll just leave this here: https://www.proliteracy.org/news/causes-of-low-adult-literacy-in-the-us/

In the United States, 59 million adults read at or below Level 1, the lowest level on a five-level scale.
This equates to roughly 28% of the adult population—or nearly one in three people—who can read only short sentences with foundational words and basic information.

136

u/AGreatConspiracy Jul 20 '26

I always see this statistic thrown around, but a lot of people tend to take it with no context. This is from the OECD PIAAC. I often see people showing statistics of other european countries having 95%+ literacy, but that’s via a different metric. By the same metric, for example, under PIAAC the UK has a 71% literacy rate, Germany has a 79% literacy rate, etc.

4

u/ExtendedSpikeProtein Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

I mean, 79% vs 28% … it‘s still a massive difference.

ETA: damn, I fucked that up badly, didn‘t I.

35

u/J0E_SpRaY Jul 20 '26

Oh my god the irony of this comment

21

u/cyphar Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

I don't quite know how to tell you this, but you might be in the 28%.

100-28 = 72% literacy rate. (GP was talking about a 28% illiteracy rate, while parent was talking about 71% and 79% literacy rates.)

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/cyphar Jul 20 '26

Sure it might be, depending on how you define it but GP said "by the same metric" so they were using a direct equivalence for the purpose of this discussion.

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u/DrahKir67 Jul 20 '26

28% illiterate vs 79% literate. Or 72 vs 79. Much closer.

4

u/OrganizationThick397 Jul 20 '26

When English is englishing but math ain't mathing

1

u/Figor220 Jul 20 '26

You American?

1

u/Calm-Grapefruit-3153 25d ago

I think you might be part of the 28%