How
does improved literacy affect the community?
Literacy can:
- Help
our communities be healthier, and reduce individual,
insurer, employer, and government health care
costs;
- Advance
the employability of Maine citizens;
- Increase
the efficiency and profitability of Maine businesses,
improve their sustainability, and attract businesses
looking to come to Maine;
- Improve
the quality of life for all Mainers.
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How
does low-literacy affect the community?
According to ProLiteracy:
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- More
than 60 percent of people who are in state and federal
corrections facilities can barely read and write.
- Low
health literacy costs between $106 billion and $238
billion each year in the U.S. - 7 to 17 percent of
all annual personal health care spending.
- Low
literacy's effects cost the U.S. $225 billion or more
each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime,
and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
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How
many people have problems with literacy?
In Maine, approximately 1 in 6 adults read at the lowest literacy
level. These individuals are not able to read a newspaper article
and struggle with written directions, medicine labels and other
kinds of daily reading needs.
What
is literacy?
Literacy is using printed and written information to achieve
personal goals, develop knowledge and build potential to better
participate in society. Literacy is about: dignity, voting,
working, self-advocacy (understanding your rights), health,
family, writing and personal expression, paying the bills
and shopping, and living a better life!
What
is Health Literacy?
Healthy People 2010 defines health literacy as "The degree
to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process,
and understand basic health information and services needed
to make appropriate health decisions." These are the
skills that all people need, for instance, to find their way
to the right place in a hospital, fill out medical and insurance
forms and communicate with healthcare providers.
What
is Financial Literacy?
Personal financial literacy is the ability to read, analyze,
manage, and communicate about the personal financial conditions
that affect material well-being. This can include skills related
to budgeting, banking, credit, savings, identity theft and
more.
What
is Family Literacy?
Family Literacy addresses the literacy and learning needs
of an entire family through partnerships among community providers.
Family Literacy is a family-centered educational approach
that improves the basic reading, mathematics, writing, English
language proficiency, and life skills of both parents and
their children from birth through age 8.
What
is ESOL?
ESOL stands for English for Speakers of Other Languages. ESOL
tutors help adults from other countries learn to speak, read
and write English. They also help learners adjust to life
in the United States.
Are
there different types of literacy?
Literacy encompasses many skills and types of knowledge. Sometimes
we categorize these different types of literacy. These include:
Basic Literacy, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages),
Math, Family Literacy, Financial Literacy, Health Literacy
Workplace Literacy and Computer Literacy.
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