Although the positive effects of literacy on individuals’ life are usually not obvious, it is important to state that it has great importance for people globally, including the United States. One of the critical effects of literacy is that it helps people overcome poverty. Thus, according to Wang et al., poverty is a top social issue currently, and the focus of the 2030 United Nations’ Agenda for Sustainable Development is on eliminating poverty globally and locally (1). While being associated with wider educational and career opportunities, literacy provides people with an opportunity to improve their economic situation.
As an approach to stabilizing individuals’ financial situation, literacy should be discussed from the perspectives of people’s access to higher education, career, creativity, and social status. One should note that, having a good education, people usually receive more opportunities to get a higher paid job. As a result, this step helps individuals avoid absolute and relative poverty as they have a chance to get a higher income (Wang et al. 1-2). Moreover, educated people have more opportunities to get a well-paid job as well as receive bonuses. They also usually have high financial and digital literacy. These skills help them avoid instability which is often present among people with poor education (Wang et al. 1-2). Thus, people can not only purchase what they need and have enough money to pay for housing, groceries, clothing, and other necessary living expenses, but they also receive a chance for their individual growth.
It is important to note that literacy is also essential for developing people’s creativity, art skills, and ideas. Access to literacy in different educational institutions provides people with an opportunity to get more knowledge and develop their unique skills. As a result, those people who can adapt their knowledge to real-life situations and use it to generate income can get out of poverty. Thus, educated persons usually use their knowledge and skills to create their own businesses and earn income (Fu et al. 66-67). From this perspective, literacy obviously helps individuals earn more money, broaden knowledge, and develop their career.
Additionally, literacy can be viewed as providing people in the United States and worldwide with some insight into how their personal and professional life can be improved. The basic step is to understand and study the rules and laws which can help low-income people get support and assistance from the government and other supporting organizations. This step is important to realize how low-income individuals can access resources which will help them avoid poverty (Wang et al. 1-2). The advanced step associated with literacy is becoming an active member of the community and society, who is focused on personal progress and knows the principles of financial literacy and economic growth (Fu et al. 66-67). As a result, literate individuals have higher self-esteem and can notice more opportunities to develop in their community and avoid poverty.
To conclude, one should state that literacy is usually greatly important for low-income individuals who want to overcome poverty. Literacy gives opportunities to receive higher education and develop a career. As a result, it becomes possible to cope with the cycle of poverty. Those individuals who are literate have better access to social services, and they are usually more involved in their community’s life. Thus, they receive access to more resources and increase their chances of getting a well-paid job and assistance if necessary.
Works Cited
Fu, Anguo, et al. “Qualitative Research on the Endogenous Power Mechanism for Poverty Elimination.” Acta Psychologica Sinica, vol. 52, no. 1, 2020, pp. 66-80. Web.
Wang, Shanping, et al. “Household Financial Literacy and Relative Poverty: An Analysis of the Psychology of Poverty and Market Participation.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 13, 2022, pp. 1-12. Web.