UK illiteracy is costing £36 billion a year
The UK economy is losing £36 billion each year due to functional illiteracy, a new report suggests.
As reported by Tes, a report from the World Literacy Foundation states that within the UK, one in four adults may struggle with basic literacy or numeracy skills or both, costing the economy £36 billion a year – the third highest in Europe after Germany and France.
Andrew Kay, the chief executive of the World Literacy Foundation and the author of the report, said: "The fact that 9 million people in the UK are functionally illiterate and struggle to read and write is shocking in 2018.
"Even worse is the fact that globally, 750 million people are illiterate and 100 million children don’t attend school each day. While the proportion of illiterate people on the planet has declined over the past 70 years, the absolute number has remained stubbornly unchanged.”
The report is published ahead of the World Literacy Summit, which starts in Oxford this Sunday (25 March).
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