- Employers rank reading and writing as top deficiencies in new hires. Thirty-eight percent of employers find high school graduates “deficient” in reading comprehension, while 63% rate this basic skill “very important.”
- Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high-school diploma, and yet just over half of our citizens have that level of education.
- In a knowledge-based economy, the demand for a highly skilled and educated workforce has never been greater.
- Forty-one percent of U.S. adults give themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finance.
- One in four adults does not pay bills on time. One in three has no savings and does not save any portion of household income for retirement.
- Thousands of Pennsylvanians contact the Attorney General’s office each year about credit card charges, finance scams, and misleading solicitations.
- Good readers generally have more financially rewarding jobs. Proficient readers are 2.5 times as likely as basic readers to be earning $850 or more a week.
- Thirty-eight percent of basic readers said their reading level limited their job prospects.
- As unemployed workers head back to school, many community colleges are reporting double digit enrollment growth.
- More unemployed and underemployed adults are enrolling in professional and certification programs at colleges and community colleges to improve their job prospects.
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