The Literacy Council of St. Joseph County, Inc.

1. TRUE:  Research indicates that these adults do poorly in the job market and many other areas.  Literacy and adult education programs are working hard to change this and to ensure that adults have access to quality services that will enable them to change this enable to them to improve their literacy skills. 
2. TRUE:  According to the January 2005 Indiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation there is a high demand for literacy services and each year this need is growing.  It is estimated that over 40,000 adults in St. Joseph County cannot read or write above the 4^th grade level.
3. FALSE:  Low literacy skills cost our nation $225 billion each year - in workplace accidents, lower productivity and lost tax revenue.
4. TRUE:  Individual workers with low skill levels are not prepared for the new and continuously evolving workplace skill requirement of to advance in their careers.  Providing literacy skills to these people gives the individuals the tools to help themselves and strengthen a family’s ability to support each other. 
5. FALSE: Children of parents who have not completed high school are five times more likely to drop out.  Seventy five percent of all jobs today require a high school education.  Sometimes a company must fill a position with a non-qualified applicant, leaving co-workers to pick up the extra responsibilities.   
6. TRUE:   Recent high school dropouts are more than three times as likely to receive public assistance as recent high school graduates…Evidence shows that literacy programs help adults make significant inroads in their fight against welfare dependence.  In a national study, 80% of literacy programs reported an overall reduction in welfare dependence among their students. 
7. TRUE:  When adults enter literacy programs and improve their literacy skills, their children tend to have fewer nutrition and health problems, drop out of school less, and have fewer teen pregnancies, less joblessness, and less social alienation. 
8. TRUE:   For example, one study of a literacy program concluded that the programs paid back $7.14 for every one dollar spent.  The financial benefits came from:

    Increased earnings due to better jobs

    Reduced child-care costs

   Additional taxes paid by participants b/c of higher earnings

   Lower criminal justice costs due to lower arrest rates

   Savings to crime victims of crimes not committed

   Savings to school systems due to the number of students not kept back or not placed in special education

9. TRUE:  When prisoners are released, they often unemployed due to their lack of adequate literacy skills.  Post-prison prospects are very dim which means we should put our efforts into adults before they become offenders.
10. FALSE:  More than 67% of married adults who lack basic literacy skills never tell their spouses about their problem.  Many are embarrassed to admit it.  The result is social isolation that prevents many people from making progress.