Children in the United Kingdom no longer seem to be reading for pleasure. The National Literacy Trust conducted a report stating that children ages 8 to 18 found 34.6% read for fun. This is the lowest level recorded by the charity since it began surveying children about their reading habits 19 years ago. This data comes from a survey of 76,000 children.
The gender gap in reading enjoyment has widened, with 28.2% of boys aged eight to 18 saying they enjoy reading in their free time, compared with 40.5% of girls. This is likely why so many books cater to girls and, later, women.
Jonathan Douglas CBE and Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust, promised that “our dedication to this cause will be unrelenting” and explained our response to the crisis: “With children and young people’s enjoyment of reading at an all-time low, and high numbers leaving primary and secondary school without the reading skills they need to thrive, the futures of a generation are being put at risk.”
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024–2026, has added his voice in support, saying, “As Waterstones Children’s Laureate, I want to do everything in my power to get reading as a right for all into the national conversation. We know that children who read for pleasure and children who read gain all kinds of benefits, from increased vocabulary to improved mental well-being. But today’s survey shows we too often withhold those benefits from our children. Over the last nineteen years, reading enjoyment has dropped by almost a third. These benefits are becoming a kind of invisible privilege. This has gone on long enough. The bad news is that we are at risk of losing a generation. The good news is that the solution is in our hands.”
The charity called on the government to form a reading task force and action plan to address the declining rates of reading enjoyment and prioritize reading for pleasure in its curriculum and assessment review.
My Take
Unsurprisingly, kids and young adults rarely read for fun or at school. Kids are overloaded with social media, listening to music with headphones, or gaming. YouTube is more engaging than text content, and Wikipedia is faster than looking it up in a dictionary. Parents are to blame for giving them smartphones or iPads as babysitters and wonder why their kids don’t read.
In retrospect, social media builds readers, especially with the #booktok trend on TikTok. Bookshelves worldwide have dedicated sections with the books all social media stars recommend. However, to foster a love of reading, parents must instill this in a young and impressionable mind at an early age.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.