Summary
A National Literacy Trust (NLT) survey reveals that children’s enjoyment of reading is at its lowest in 19 years, with only 34.6% of eight- to 18-year-olds saying they enjoy reading in their free time.
This marks an 8.8 percentage point drop from last year, part of a declining trend since 2016.
Reading frequency has also hit a historic low, and a significant gender gap persists, with only 28.2% of boys versus 40.5% of girls enjoying reading.
The NLT calls for a government taskforce to address these declines, warning that “the futures of a generation are being put at risk.”
Audiobooks, audiobooks, audiobooks. I read a lot as a kid/teen so maybe I have that going for me, but into my adult years and the invention of YouTube I didn’t read quite so much.
Then audiobooks entered my life, 1 a month with audible is easy to achieve as bed time reading. Then I added them to chores. I’m un/fortunate enough to work a mindless job so I added them there too mixed in with music. Now I smash a couple books a week and still have an unhealthy YouTube habit.