In worrying news for educators, a recent survey indicates that children’s reading habits are approaching a “crisis” point, with the percentage of pupils who like reading books currently at its lowest level in nearly two decades.
According to a report by the National Literacy Trust (NLT) organisation, the percentage of young people who say they enjoy reading has decreased dramatically over the past year, particularly among boys.
This report is based on 76,131 responses to NLT’s Annual Literacy Survey from children and young people aged 5 to 18 in early 2024. It includes findings on reading enjoyment, frequency, and motivation and explores responses by age, gender, socio-economic background, and geographical region.
The NLT’s Annual Literacy Survey indicates a steady decline in the number of children and young people who report enjoying reading and engaging in daily reading during their free time.
According to the survey, launched in 2005 to track children’s interest in reading, this year has recorded the lowest percentage of children and young people who say they enjoy reading since the survey’s inception.
Key findings from the survey:
- Just 1 in 3 (34.6%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2024. Reading enjoyment levels have decreased by 8.8 percentage points over the past year alone.
- Only 1 in 5 (20.5%) 8- to 18-year-olds said that they read something daily in their free time in 2024, again, the lowest levels we’ve recorded since 2005, with daily reading levels decreasing by 7.5pp in the last year alone.
“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,” NLT chief executive Jonathan Douglas told The Guardian.
“For a report focused largely on reading enjoyment, much of this is not an enjoyable read,” concluded the report. “The declining levels of reading enjoyment and reading frequency are, frankly, shocking and dispiriting.”
