Case Study
ILLITERACY FACTS
61% of below poverty children do not have books in their homes.
2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. Over 70% of America’s inmates cannot read above a 4th-grade level.[1]
1 in 4 children in America grows up without learning how to read.[2]
Students who don't read proficiently by the 3rd grade are 4 times likelier to drop out of school. Start a badass book club to keep your peers reading. As of 2011, America was the only free-market OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) country where the current generation was less educated than the previous one.[4]
Nearly 85% of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, proving that there is a close relationship between illiteracy and crime. More than 60% of all inmates are functionally illiterate.[5]
53% of 4th graders admitted to reading recreationally “almost every day,” while only 20% of 8th graders could say the same.[6]
75% of Americans who receive food stamps perform at the lowest 2 levels of literacy, and 90% of high school dropouts are on welfare.[7]
Teenage girls between the ages of 16 to 19 who live at or below the poverty line and have below-average literacy skills are 6 times more likely to have children out of wedlock than girls their age who can read proficiently.[8]
FACTS ABOUT HOMELESS CHILDREN.
Homeless children are/have.
2x’s more likely to go hungry and have ear infections
2x’s more likely to repeat a grade.
2x’s more likely to have learning disabilities.
4x’s more likely to be developmentally delayed.
4x’s as many asthma attacks.
5x’s as many stomach aches.
6x’s more likely to have a speech problem.
20% of homeless preschoolers will suffer from some type of mental disorder that will require professional help.
22% will end up in foster care or living with a relative.
25% will witness some type of domestic violence.
38% are Females with children.
47% suffer from depression, anxiety and will withdraw.
48% of children between the ages of 3-12 are proficient in reading.
61% do not have books of their own in their home.
77% do not attend school on a regular base.
97% will move 3 times in one year
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