[morsch]

When Oliver Twist was published (1838), a third of the British population couldn't read[1].

[1] https://www1.umassd.edu/ir/resources/laboreducation/literacy...

[rjkennedy98]

14 percent of adult Americans demonstrated a “below basic” literacy level in 2003, and 29 percent exhibited a “basic” reading level.

That is with public education.