It’s no secret that today’s young people are making decisions about their futures that look different from the generations before them. Whether influenced by the explosion of digital media, the rise of social movements, or the instability of the economy, many teens no longer see college as the next step after high school graduation. This shift has sparked headlines dubbing Gen Z the “toolbelt generation”—a nod to their embrace of apprenticeships, credentials, and technical education in place of traditional four-year degrees.

Whether students pursue college, trade school, an apprenticeship, or go directly into the workforce, strong literacy skills remain essential, not just for success in their careers, but for their ability to navigate the complex world around them

But even as these new pathways gain traction — and rightfully so — there’s a crucial piece missing from the national conversation: how America’s literacy crisis negatively influences career opportunity and success.

Whether students pursue college, trade school, an apprenticeship, or go directly into the workforce, strong literacy skills remain essential, not just for success in their careers, but for their ability to navigate the complex world around them. And yet, as we applaud the expansion of pathways, we are failing to confront how a deepening literacy crisis threatens to undermine every route to opportunity.

America’s students are falling behind in reading. National test scores show dramatic declines in literacy since the COVID-19 pandemic, with middle and high school students showing especially worrying trends. But the truth is, this crisis was decades in the making, and far too little attention is paid to its long-term consequences outside of the classroom.

Literacy isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have. It’s not just a skill for academic success; it’s a foundation for workforce readiness, civic participation, and lifelong learning. Without being proficient in reading, every career pathway becomes harder, narrower, and less equitable.

As former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan once said, “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development… a basic human right…. Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.”

During my time in leadership at City Colleges of Chicago — one of the nation’s largest community college systems — I saw firsthand the role that literacy played in every student’s journey. Regardless of whether a student was entering a transfer program, pursuing an industry-recognized certification, or preparing for a trade, all of them were required to complete a basic skills exam to assess literacy and readiness.

This wasn’t some gatekeeping mechanism. It was a necessary measure to determine whether students could comprehend the materials, instructions, and safety procedures they’d encounter in their fields. From construction to healthcare to hospitality, reading comprehension made the difference between surviving and advancing. You cannot earn a living wage, read a union contract, interpret safety protocols, or adapt to new technologies without the ability to read.

Earlier in my career, I worked in afterschool programming through Chicago’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers. In those classrooms, I saw the way low literacy skills shut doors for students, no matter what dreams they had. College-bound teens struggled with essays, recommendation letters, understanding college course booklets and more. Career-bound teens struggled with job applications. But when focused literacy support was in place, everything changed. Confidence grew. Pathways that once seemed closed became possible.

We need to stop treating literacy as something that matters only in classrooms. Literacy is about power. The power to make informed choices, navigate systems, and participate fully in a democracy. It’s about ensuring that a young person from a low-income neighborhood has just as much access to opportunity as someone in a wealthy school district.

The literacy crisis is an equity crisis. It disproportionately affects Black, Latino, Native, low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities — those who are already navigating systemic barriers. Without urgent action, these students will face even greater hurdles as adults, regardless of how innovative or accessible new career pathways become.

We must treat literacy as the national emergency it is. That means investing in reading instruction beyond elementary school. It means embedding literacy supports into career and technical education. It means funding after-school and community-based literacy programs. And it means sounding the alarm not just for the sake of test scores, but for the sake of our economy, our democracy, and our humanity.

Every job, every path, every future hinges on the ability to read, write, and communicate. If we care about young people and about their potential, their voice, and their dignity then we must care about literacy.

And until every student has access to it, the promise of pathways will remain just that — a promise, not a reality.

Photo by Allison Shelley/Complete College Photo Library