Reading patterns in young people

Data from the National Literacy Trust survey in 2019 (Clark & Teravainen-Goff, 2020) reveal a stark picture of young people’s reading habits in the UK and a gradual decline year on year. Only 53% of young people said they enjoyed reading and levels of reading enjoyment were at their lowest recorded level since 2013. Fewer young people said that they read daily in their free time. At the same time, attitudes towards reading have remained relatively unchanged. The link between reading engagement and skill is also clear. Young people who enjoy reading are three times more likely to read above the level expected for their age than those non-readers enjoy reading (30.1% vs 8.1%). Young people who read daily in their free time are twice as likely to read above the level expected for their age than children who don’t read daily (37.6% vs 14.2%).