The share of adults with literacy skills at the lowest measured levels increased substantially as the gap between the high-skilled and low-skilled in the United States expands, according to new data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ latest survey of adult skills.
The survey was previously administered in 2017, when 19% of U.S. adults ranked at the lowest levels of literacy. In 2023, that figure increased to 28%, a change that NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr called “substantial” in a news conference announcing the survey Monday.
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“It is larger than what we would normally see in an international assessment, particularly literacy, which is a fairly stable construct,” she said.
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And, compared with the other countries measured, overall the U.S. has stayed about even, as most saw a decline in skills from 2017 to 2023. The survey, known as the Survey of Adult Skills, includes more than two dozen countries, most of which are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The survey assesses and compares the working-age population’s literacy, number and problem-solving levels.
Low scores don’t equal illiteracy, Carr said — the closest the survey comes to that is measuring those who could be called functionally illiterate, which is the inability to read or write at a level where you’re able to handle basic living and workplace tasks. When asked what could be causing the adult literacy decline in the U.S., Carr said, “it is difficult to say.”
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