How many people in the US are financially illiterate?
Two-thirds (66%) of American adults couldn't correctly answer a question about compound interest. Nearly 78% of American adults are considered to be financially illiterate. Over 48% of Americans do not actively engage in any long-term financial savings planning.
Only 57% of American adults are financially literate. 73% of teens want a more personal finance education. Americans lose an average of $1,819 annually due to financial illiteracy. 77% of Americans are financially anxious.
Poor financial curriculums that neglect industry-wide best practices and recent research are ineffective in imbuing learners with relevant knowledge needed to assess different financial options.
According to recent CivicScience data, 1-in-10 U.S. adults say they are 'not at all financially literate,' while the majority claim they are 'somewhat financially literate. ' Over a quarter feel they are 'very financially literate. '
U.S. adults have big gaps in their financial knowledge
Financial literacy — which generally means understanding money topics ranging from income, budgeting, saving and investing, as well as how interest rates work and why credit scores matter — is lacking among many U.S. adults, studies show.
Almost 40% of American adults report they struggle to make ends meet each month, an increase from 34.4% in 2022 and 26.7% in 2021. At 46.2%, Louisiana had the highest percentage reporting financial struggles followed by Mississippi (45.7%) and Arkansas (45.6%).
| Illiterate | Male | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Niger | 80.9 | 72.7 |
| 2. South Sudan | 73.2 | 65.2 |
| 3. Guinea | 69.6 | 61.9 |
| 4. Burkina Faso | 64.0 | 57.0 |
Hispanics, older people, and incarcerated people are more likely to be low literate than other US adults. Major factors influencing literacy development include education, socioeconomic status, learning English as a second language, learning disabilities, and crime.
Worldwide, only 1-in-3 adults are financially literate. Not only is financial illiteracy widespread, but there are big variations Page 5 FINANCIAL LITERACY AROUND THE WORLD | PAGE 5 among countries and groups.
Without distinguishing curriculum and standards, English language learners and children from low-income families fall behind their peers. Teachers spend a majority of their class time reading and supporting struggling readers, but teachers have not been able to do this all the time.
How many adults in the US are illiterate?
Nationwide, on average, 79% of U.S. adults are literate in 2022. 21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2022. 54% of adults have a literacy below sixth-grade level.
14% of U.S. adults are considered “functionally illiterate.” 21% of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th-grade level. 19% of high school graduates in the U.S. can't read.
How Many Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck? A 2023 survey conducted by Payroll.org highlighted that 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, a 6% increase from the previous year. In other words, more than three-quarters of Americans struggle to save or invest after paying for their monthly expenses.
Notably, a collaborative study by the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) has found that only 43% of Gen Z respondents correctly answered questions related to financial literacy, indicating a significant gap in financial understanding within this demographic.
The effects of a lack of financial literacy can include: Not enough emergency savings, which could cause financial hardship in the event of a job loss, a big medical bill or a pricey car repair. A credit card balance you can't pay off each month, which incorporates interest charges.
“Financial freedom is available to those who learn about it and work for it.” — Robert Kiyosaki. With Good Good Piggy, children can develop financial literacy and take active steps towards achieving long-term financial freedom.
22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite most Americans having modest expectations of what it means to attain financial freedom, just 1-in-10 (11%) report they are living their definition of financial freedom, according to a new survey by Achieve, the leader in digital personal finance.
After inflation, high interest rates, unattainable housing prices and other economic factors, 50 percent of U.S. adults say their overall personal financial situation is worse than it was in November 2020, according to October 2023 Bankrate polling.
A third of American adults in Northwestern Mutual's 2024 Planning & Progress survey said they don't feel financially secure. That's up from 27% in 2023 and the highest measure going back to 2012.
The states with the highest literacy rates are New Hampshire, Alaska, Vermont, Minnesota, Montana, Maine, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Iowa. New Hampshire has the highest literacy rate in the US, with a rate of 88.5%.
What country has 100% literacy?
Literacy Rates by Country
There are nine countries in the world that have a 100% literacy rate: Andorra, Finland, Greenland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and North Korea.
A new world ranking of countries and their literacy rates puts the United States at 7th.
In the United States, 54% of American adults read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level, and nearly one in five adults reads below a third-grade level. Lower literacy rates directly correlate to higher unemployment rates, reduced income, and overall impacts U.S. competitiveness on the global stage.
A claimant may be deemed disabled if they are:
Unskilled or lacking in transferable skills. Lacking relevant past work. Unable to perform vocationally relevant past work. Illiterate or unable to communicate in English.
There is a significant literacy crisis in America today. Twenty-five million children in the U.S. cannot read proficiently (Based on an analysis of NAEP test scores).
