Children and young people's reading in 2025
a day ago
- #education
- #reading-habits
- #literacy
- The report is based on 114,970 responses from children and young people aged 5 to 18 in early 2025.
- Reading enjoyment is at its lowest in 20 years, with only 32.7% of 8- to 18-year-olds enjoying reading in their free time, a 36% decrease since 2005.
- Primary-aged children and boys, especially those aged 11 to 16, experienced the steepest drop in reading enjoyment.
- Daily reading frequency is also at its lowest, with fewer than 18.7% of 8- to 18-year-olds reading daily, a nearly 20 percentage point decrease since 2005.
- Girls read daily at higher rates than boys, with the gender gap widening to 6.2 percentage points, the largest since 2023.
- Children not receiving free school meals (FSMs) read daily more often (19.4%) than those who receive FSMs (15.8%).
- Motivations for reading include material related to favorite films or TV series (38.1%), matching interests or hobbies (37.1%), and interesting book covers or titles (30.9%).
- 26.6% of children and young people value having the freedom to choose what they read.
- Even those with low reading enjoyment recognize its educational value, with nearly half saying it helps them learn new words or things.
- Engaging this group could involve aligning reading with personal interests and other media they already enjoy.