Children's reading habits have reached a 'crisis point'.
Worrying news for educators, a recent survey shows that children's reading habits are approaching a 'crisis' point, with the percentage of students who enjoy reading books currently at its lowest level in almost two decades.
According to a report from the National Literacy Trust (NLT), the percentage of young people who say they enjoy reading has fallen dramatically in the past year, especially among boys.
This report is based on 76,131 responses to NLT's annual literacy survey of children and young people aged 5 to 18 in early 2024. It includes findings on reading enjoyment, frequency and motivation and examines responses by age, gender, socio-economic background and geographical region .
The NLT's annual literacy survey shows that the number of children and young people who indicate that they enjoy reading and read daily in their spare time is steadily decreasing.
According to the survey, which was launched in 2005 to track children's interest in reading, this year has recorded the lowest percentage of children and young people saying they enjoy reading since the survey began.
Key findings from the survey:
- Only 1 in 3 (34.6%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they would enjoy reading in their spare time in 2024. In the past year alone, reading pleasure has fallen by 8.8 percentage points.
- Only 1 in 5 (20.5%) 8 to 18 year olds said they would read something in their spare time every day by 2024, again the lowest level we have recorded since 2005, with daily reading levels in 2024 falling by 7. fell 5 percentage points. the last year alone.
“With children and young people's reading enjoyment at an all-time low and the numbers leaving primary and secondary school without the reading skills they need to thrive, the future of a generation is at risk,” says NLT CEO Jonathan Douglas. The Guardian.
“For a report largely focused on reading pleasure, much of this is not pleasant to read,” the report concluded. “The declining levels of reading enjoyment and reading frequency are, frankly, shocking and disheartening.”
