Children’s reading enjoyment plummets to worst level in almost two decades, new research reveals today

Children and young people’s enjoyment of reading is at ‘crisis point’, falling drastically in the last year alone, according to new research published today by the National Literacy Trust.

A survey of more than 76,000 UK children and young people revealed that only 1 in 3 (34.6 per cent) eight to 18-year-olds say they enjoy reading in their free time. This is the lowest level recorded by the charity since it first started surveying children about their reading 19 years ago, and an 8.8 percentage point drop in the past 12 months alone (43.4 per cent). 

The research found that the reading enjoyment crisis is particularly impacting boys and young people in secondary school. The gender gap in children and young people’s reading enjoyment nearly tripled in the last year (from 4.8 to 12.3 percentage points), with fewer than three in 10 (28.2 per cent) boys now saying they enjoy reading in their free time, compared with four in 10 (40.5 per cent) girls. 

Reading enjoyment has fallen across all age groups, with those in secondary school reporting the steepest declines. Just three in 10 secondary pupils (30.7 per cent aged 11-14 and 29.7 per cent aged 14-16) currently say they enjoy reading in their free time, compared with more than half of primary pupils (51.9 per cent aged eight to 11).  

The research revealed that when children and young people enjoy reading in their free time, their reading skills, aptitude for learning, wellbeing, empathy and confidence benefit.

Twice as many children and young people who enjoy reading in their free time have above average reading skills than children who don’t enjoy it (34.2 per cent vs 15.7 per cent). National Literacy Trust said this finding is important at a time when children and young people’s reading skills are cause for concern, particularly for those from disadvantaged communities. 

Among the broader benefits unveiled in the research, children and young people who read in their free time at least once a month said it helps them to relax (56.6 per cent) and feel happy (41 per cent), learn new things (50.9 per cent), understand the views of others (32.8 per cent), learn about other cultures (32.4 per cent) and be confident (26.0 per cent). 

Although both levels have declined in the past year, more children and young people continue to say they enjoy reading in school than in their free time (40.5 per cent vs 34.6 per cent), with particular benefits identified for boys.

The gender gap in reading enjoyment at school is five time smaller than outside of school (2.2 vs 12.3 percentage points), with almost as many boys (39.5 per cent) as girls (41.7 per cent) saying they enjoy reading at school.  

Previous research by WPI Strategy for the National Literacy Trust and British Land also outlined the benefits of reading for pleasure for the UK economy. It found that, if all school-aged children in the UK read for pleasure every day, the number getting five good GCSEs by the age of 16 could increase by 1.1 million within 30 years, boosting their average lifetime earning potential by £57,500 and adding £4.6 billion to the UK’s GDP each year.

The National Literacy Trust is calling on the government to urgently form a reading taskforce and action plan with multi-sector partners to address declining rates of reading enjoyment and, in its curriculum and assessment review, prioritise reading for pleasure alongside the skills that are vital in the development of confident, motivated readers. 

The charity said it is also committing, over the next three years, to directly supporting and empowering 1.5 million more children and young people from disadvantaged communities to read for pleasure and develop greater confidence in their reading skills. This will include accelerating the growth of its Libraries for Primaries campaign, to ensure every primary school in the UK has a dedicated library space by 2028.

Jonathan Douglas CBE, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust, said: “Our dedication to this cause will be unrelenting. Over the next three years, we will support and empower 1.5 million more children and young people from disadvantaged communities to read for pleasure and develop greater confidence in their reading skills.

“By expanding and deepening our work in schools and communities, we will strive to play a significant role in growing a generation of readers.”

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024–2026, said: “We know that children who read for pleasure, and children who are read to, gain all kinds of benefits. From increased vocabulary to vastly improved mental wellbeing.

“But today’s survey shows that too often as a nation we are withholding those benefits from our children. Over the last nineteen years, enjoyment of reading has dropped by almost a third. These benefits are becoming a kind of invisible privilege. This has gone on long enough. The bad news is that we are at risk of losing a generation. The good news is that the solution is in our hands.”

Commenting on the findings, Chris Paterson, co-CEO at the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “We know that reading is one of the most important building blocks for young people to achieve their potential across many subjects in school, building their vocabulary, grammar and overall general knowledge.

“This goes beyond school achievement though. Good literacy levels are vital to building a successful career and engaging with the wider world.

“We can’t allow reading for pleasure to just ebb away. It’s imperative that this practice is encouraged and prioritised amongst children and educators have a huge part to play in this.”  

To reach this target, the National Literacy Trust said it will: 

• Expand and deepen the impact of its existing reading for pleasure programmes in schools, including the Young Readers Programme
• Accelerate the growth of its Libraries for Primaries campaign, to ensure every primary school in the UK has a dedicated library space by 2028
• Increase support for teachers through CPD and training, and high-quality resources linked to the national curriculum
• Build capacity and capability for reading for pleasure activities in the 20 local communities where it works through its network of 1,000 Literacy Champion volunteers. 

The National Literacy Trust has also launched the #GrowAGenerationOfReaders social media campaign – backed by authors, charities, publishers and more – flipping the concept of content warnings on its head to instead extol the benefits of reading, as identified by children and young people through its research. 

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “We know families have faced huge pressures in recent years, from the pandemic to the cost-of-living, and there have also been cuts to vital community services and libraries over the last decade. But we should all do everything in our power to encourage parents to read with their children as much as possible.