The effect of race and immigration on literacy in the United States

Edwin S. Rubenstein:

There are several reasons why immigrants exert more of a literacy drag here than elsewhere.

First, they account for a larger share of the population. At the time of the international literacy survey (1994) immigrants accounted for about 13 percent of U.S. adults, fifth highest proportion among the countries surveyed. Only in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Switzerland did immigrants account for a larger population share.

Second—and far more important—is the abnormally wide gap between native and immigrant literacy capabilities in the U.S. Here are the average scores and the proportions by which natives outscore immigrants:

U.S.: immigrants 210; natives 284; 74 points, or 35 percent

17 countries: immigrants 226; natives 276; 50 points, or 22 percent

The immigrant-native differential is still larger among high school dropouts—a group that covers one-third of adult U.S. immigrants and only 13 percent of natives:

U.S.: immigrant dropouts 149; native dropouts 225; 76 points, or 51 percent

17 countries: immigrant dropouts 177; native dropouts 243; 66 points, or 37 percent

Needless to say, immigration is not the only factor behind our weak literacy scores. The literacy gap between native-born whites and Asians and their Black and Hispanic counterparts ranges from 46 points, or 19 percent, on the prose and document literacy tests, to 57 points, or 25 percent, on the quantitative test.

Why Immigrants In Los Angeles (AND THEIR U.S.-BORN CHILDREN) Can’t Read