The Economics of Literacy for Women
- 75% of female heads of households with less than a high school diploma are living in poverty.
- Young women with below poverty incomes are 5 1/2 times more likely to become teen parents.
- early 40% of female single parents and 35% of displaced homemakers have an eighth grade
education or less.
- In 1986, the median annual income of females with less than an eighth grade education was
$10,153. For males, it was $14,485.
- Literacy levels of children are strongly linked to their parents' levels.
- The greatest predictor of a child's future academic success is the literacy level of the child's
mother.
- In 1990, over 67.3% of working women without a high school education earned less than
$12,499 per year.
- One in eight women workers has less than a high school education, including 50% of single
mothers, 56% of displaced homemakers, 33% of Hispanic women, and 20% of African-
American women.
- People with less than a high school education will be able to fill only 14% of the jobs of the
future.
The preceding statistics show the relationship between economic factors and literacy levels.
Please feel free to use this information in your community, in your grant writing, and in your
staff development.
For more information, call the Ohio Literacy Resource Center.
References:
ERIC Digest No. 92, Women, Work, and Literacy. EDO-CE-89-92.
National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Educational Statistics, 1992. U.S.
Department of Education; Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
