For the millions of people around the world who cannot read or write, creating educational opportunities for literacy can help close economic and health inequalities.
A child practicing writing in Myanmar. United Nations Photo. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Within the last five decades, the world has been reading more. Literacy rates have increased around the world, growing from 67% to 86.8% between 1976 and 2020.
However, despite global improvements, there are still some 781 million people around the world who cannot read or write. These numbers do not exist in a vacuum, but rather are intrinsically tied to economic and gender disparities. About 95% of the world’s illiterate population lives in developing countries, and nearly two-thirds are women. Such statistics reflect global gender disparities in which women are more likely to be defined by traditional domestic roles and childcare, roles that — especially in countries where educational opportunities are already limited — cut off women’s access to literacy.
Child marriages can also derail young girls' education. On Earth today around 650 million women were married before the age of 18. While child marriages rip young girls of education opportunities, access to education itself actively combat rates of child marriage. Each year of secondary education that a girl completes reduces her risk of marrying before the age of 18 by 5%
Benefits of ReadingWomen attend school in Niger. Global Partnership for Education - GPE. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
The benefits of reading and writing skills extend way beyond the pages, as globally literacy works to make the world a healthier, richer and more democratic place.
Increasing women’s literacy does not just impact lives on an individual level, but entire communities and economies. Every 10% increase of female students in a country leads to a 3% increase in gross domestic product. The real world economic power of literacy plays a crucial role in lifting communities out of poverty. Concern USA estimates that if every student in a low-income country had literacy skills, some 171 million people would escape extreme poverty.
Opening up educational opportunities, specifically for women, creates a ripple effect among communities. Because women are more likely to be the primary caretakers to children, their own literacy influences whether or not they decide to send their children to school.
Increasing access to information through literacy can also have long-standing health benefits. Not only does literacy encourage individuals to read and understand medication and treatment options, but it also empowers individuals to seek out medical attention when necessary.
A study from 2002 found that women in Bolivia who attended literacy programs were more likely to seek out medical help when needed, as well as be more open minded towards receiving vaccinations — both for themselves and their children. Another study found that if a woman was literate she was four times more likely to know how to protect herself from AIDS, while in Nepal literacy has been connected to a more open mind towards family planning.
In measuring the effects of literacy and its economic and health impacts in communities, UNESCO estimated that infant mortality rates decrease 9% for every year of education that women attend.
In addition to increasing access to education and medical knowledge, literacy also strengthens democracy by combating political marginalization and exclusion. Reading and writing are necessary skills for individuals to fill out voting forms necessary in any democratic system, and can also help increase political engagement by granting access to newspapers and written political material.
Education and Empathy
Students reading in a classroom in Sejnane. World Bank Photo Collection. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
One of the greatest psychological and social benefits of reading is in the way it builds empathy and fosters opportunities for communication and connection. Fiction in particular has been connected to empathy-building. One study in 2006 found that people who read more fiction scored higher in empathy tests. Another study from 2013 found that those who studied fiction improved on empathy tests that measure one’s ability to understand other people’s beliefs and desires that are different from one’s own.
The effect of fiction on reader’s emotional intelligence stems in part from the way it forces readers to use their imagination and view the world from another’s perspective and life. Fiction writing forces readers to grapple with choices and scenarios that disrupt their expectations and practice empathy towards characters in order to understand their thoughts and actions.
Get Involved
Organizations all around the world are doing their part to make literacy accessible, encouraged, and achievable globally.
The World Bank seeks to combat global illiteracy through educational interventions, with the goal of reducing the number of children who cannot understand a simple story to half of what it is to today by 2030. The World Bank encourages the public to share information on the global literacy crisis, encourage government officials to invest in literacy programs, and understand the impacts of learning poverty around the world.
Save the Children’s Literacy Boost works to increase literacy rates around the world through individual and communal efforts. The program relies on schools and teacher training as well as community initiatives that support literacy through Book Banks, reading clubs and workshops for parents. A Stanford study found the average child who went through Save the Children’s Literacy Boost program in Rwanda scored higher on reading comprehension tests than 63% of children who did not go through the program.
Jessica Blatt
Jessica Blatt graduated from Barnard College with a degree in English. Along with journalism, she is passionate about creative writing and storytelling that inspires readers to engage with the world around them. She hopes to share her love for travel and learning about new cultures through her work.