U.S. trails other developed countries in adults’ math, reading skills

U.S. adults have some studying to do.

A survey released Tuesday found that American adults’ reading, math and tech skills lagged far behind those of their counterparts in a dozen other developed countries.

Adults in Japan and Finland performed best in the survey, conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In those two countries, the report said, 20% of those who participated showed proficiency in math and reading at the highest levels. Among U.S. participants, by comparison, only about 10% of adults had similar skills in math and reading.

The survey includes results for 166,000 adults ages 16-65 in 24 countries. Organizers of the survey measured reading and numerical literacy, assigning five levels of proficiency. Level 5 represented the highest possible scores. For 19 of the countries, organizers also measured literacy in technological problem-solving.

American adults fared the worst in the math and technology problem-solving skills.

In math, only 8% of U.S. adults scored at Levels 4 and 5. The 24-country average was 13%.

The report also found that information-processing skills have a strong correlation with higher wages. Adults with better math skills tend to have higher wages, according to the survey.

Spain and Italy had the lowest average scores in math and reading. Less than 5% of those surveyed in the two countries performed at the highest proficiency levels.

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