Literacy Counts = L'importance de l'alphabetisation.

The cost of illiteracy to Canadian society has been estimated at $10 billion per year, the cost to business at $4 billion. In addition, there are human and social costs upon which it is impossible to place a dollar value. Human costs are stress and low self-esteem, worse health, lower income, and inability to participate fully in social and cultural life. Costs to business include expenses associated with lost productivity, literacy-related accidents and safety costs, and the costs of basic remedial training provided by employers. Due to the need for higher skill levels, Canada's future economic competitiveness is at stake. Nearly one of three high school students fails to complete school; 18 percent of Canadian adults have not completed more than an eighth-grade education. The reading skills of almost 7 million adults--mainly ordinary Canadians who were born in Canada--are too limited to allow them consistently to meet everyday reading demands. Individuals can do much to promote literacy: read to children; encourage teens to stay in school; encourage high quality education; and volunteer to help others learn to read. The importance of literacy is increasingly being recognized, with community groups, business, labor, and governments taking more action to promote literacy and numeracy skills. (YLB)