National Literacy Trust finds only 35% of eight to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their spare time, a sharp drop on last year to the lowest figure yet recorded

Children’s reading enjoyment has fallen to its lowest level in almost two decades, with just one in three young people saying that they enjoy reading in their free time, according to a new survey.

Only 34.6% of eight- to 18-year-olds surveyed by the National Literacy Trust (NLT) said that they enjoy reading in their spare time. This is the lowest level recorded by the charity since it began surveying children about their reading habits 19 years ago, representing an 8.8 percentage point drop since last year.

It is also part of a broader downward trend since 2016, when almost two in three children said that they enjoyed reading.

  • sweetpotato
    6•10 hours ago

    So you mean to tell me that when corporations, bigger, richer and more influential than entire governments and countries, are left unregulated to manufacture and advertise products designed by psychologists and behavioural scientists to capture as much of our attention as possible, our attentions are captured and we can’t spend time on beneficial hobbies? That’s really unexpected…