Impact of low literacy in building crime behaviour

Low literacy can severely influence various social issues like gender equality, poverty, and health. A literate individual who can read, write, and do basic mathematical & computer operations, empowers himself with employment to avoid poverty & other societal issues. Experts in the US have discovered a distinctive pattern that relates low literacy levels with the tendency to crimes. It is found that about 75 percent of prison inmates in America have not completed their high school and are classified as low literates. What is even more noteworthy is that the rate of return to prison is calculated to be less by a whopping 43 per cent, if the person is literate. Following are a few facts that establish the impacts of low literacy on the behavioural patterns of the individuals.

Impacts of low literacy on crime patterns 

Studies on the behavioural patterns among the inmates have revealed that about 70% of them cannot read above a 4th-grade level. A trend is also visible in the pattern that nearly two-thirds of the students who could not read proficiently by the end of 4th grade are most likely to commit crimes. Not alarmingly, almost 85% of the juveniles are functionally illiterate, proving it essentially that illiteracy can lead individuals to crimes.

Literacy in USA has taken a down-trip with about one in every four students growing up without proper education. America was the only free-market OECD country that had a generation educated lower than its previous one as of 2011. Poverty has been and still is a major societal issue that is preventing students from continuing higher studies. A study among the school dropouts has shown that 90% of them were on welfare. Teenage girls who are between the ages of 16 to 19 below the poverty line are more likely to have children out of wedlock compared to their peers.

Low literacy in USA and its impact on the healthcare industry is estimated to over $70 million every year. Washington DC, followed by Seattle & Minneapolis, is ranked the top literate American cities as of 2013.

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