The England-based Reading Agency states that reading plays a crucial role a person's well-being and health. It empowers an individual to advance her education by expanding her vocabulary and improving her critical thinking skills. Without reading, people cannot interpret a recipe to bake a cake or follow the instructions on children's cough medicine. Reading also helps decode influential works of literature.
According to Kyla Boyse, writing for the University of Michigan Health Systems, reading ranks as a powerful way humans use language to communicate. Reading aloud or discussing what you've read becomes a social experience, helping an individual express himself to others while gaining exposure to different viewpoints. Also, without reading, humans cannot use permanent records as a way to look back at history and recognize mistakes.
Reading proves vital to employment success, explains the ProLiteracy website, by helping individuals reach their full potential and benefit from financial stability. In a July 2002 report for the U.S. Census Bureau, Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Eric C. Newburger write that a person with an undergraduate degree earns on average $1 million more over a lifetime than someone who only has a high school education. Without strong reading skills, it's nearly impossible to earn a college degree or succeed in a knowledge-based economy.
UNESCO reports that reading reduces poverty and child mortality worldwide. The Florida Literacy Coalition website states that approximately 67 percent of prison inmates read at or below a fifth-grade level, and points out that "education is one of the most effective forms of crime prevention."