I think there is a lot going on that contributes to this.
1. Adults read less, so children see their parents reading less often (it at all!) so do not grow up thinking it is a fun thing to do. I love reading because my parents did, and my kids do because I do.
2. Schools do not make reading enjoyable. A teacher I know suggested that their school did somethings to make reading fun, and the management refused because it improve any of their metrics. A friend of by daughter's went to a school where there were times when they had to sit and read a book - nothing kills enjoyment better than being forced to do something. You are telling kids its a chore you have to do, not something done for fun.
There are other things do. There are schools that teach Shakespeare for English literature GCSE without giving them the whole text, and without watching a video of the play, let along going to the theatre.
3. There are fewer and smaller local libraries so kids cannot discover what they like as easily. There are fewer bookshops too, because people read less.
Personally, it seems conspicuous that one of the largest drops in 5-8 and 8-18 occurred in 2023-2024, right when the world experienced a layoff surge [1] and sites like HN noted a significant drop in hiring [2].
"enjoy reading either very much or quite a lot"
2023 to 2024, 5 to 8: 75.3 to 64.7
2023 to 2024, 8 to 18: 43.4 to 34.6
~250,000 layoffs @ ~1300 companies in 2023 [1]. Add another 100,000 and 1,000 if you take late 2022. And layoffs.fyi just tracks tech layoffs.
The WARN database has similar results. Been averaging 300-400 a month since January 2023, vs ~100 / month in the 2021-2022 timeframe. [3]
That's a lot of dislocation, moving to find jobs, household chaos, school shifting, and parents with different priorities.
There’s been a tragic drop off in the quality of children’s books in the past decade or so. Of course they can go back to the classics or read stuff from the 2000s but those often lack connection to contemporary culture.
Fantasy kids books, e:g Tolkien, CS Lewis (Narnia), Joan Aiken, Edith Nesbit are timeless though right? Then there are books set in a different time, that kids still enjoy e:g Just William series 1920-60 (which contains some stereotypes about race or gender roles which can actually lead to a healthy discussion about to what extent we've moved on and "don't say those sorts of things" nowadays) . So, books set in the current decade are great but kids can have a lot of fun reading older stuff if that isn't available. Ours read quite a mix of old and new.
Given what children claim motivates them to read it sounds like well-written text adventures would do wonders for literacy.
But I suspect that would not be that easy. I think both books and text adventures would be competing against activities with much lower requirements on effort, and much higher immediate rewards.
Because this is UK focused it assumes you'll know that FSM = Free School Meal which is a proxy for household poverty. People who've seen this kind of work in other fields will recognise such proxies and probably assumed that's what is going on, but just in case.
These stats are hard to interpret - this could all very well be consistent with the kids these days turning out to be the most literate generation in history. There is very strong incentive to get good at reading to interact with the internet even if it isn't reading for 'enjoyment'.
There is a linked PDF, but I'd actually be more interested in reading the original survey to see how 'reading' is being framed. Is an hour in the HN comments section counted as reading for fun?
What does "they read something daily in their free time in 2025" actually mean?
I think it means actual books.
I think it excludes forums, discord chats, and general online stuff.
Kids are forced to read more than ever before to interact with their peers. The rise of sites like Web Novel and Royal Road are inspirational. I would guess that there are more "writers" than ever before in history.
I think what speaks to the core of today's young men runs counter to my impression of the kind of books being popularized.
When I was younger and read fiction I had access to a fair amount of copies of young adult novels that would never be front-and-center at a bookstore or library. In fact I think that most of these books were the rejects from the main libraries in my town. Violence, abandonment, resent, regret abound! Many of it was senseless and the endings were not as neat and resolved as the schoolteacher led me to believe how all books ought to end.
I’m not recommending this experience. But young men do need author[itie]s to guide them through the discomforting aspects of their lives in an un-fantastic fashion.
Does this consider audiobooks? Personally, I have been reading fewer physical books and have preferred to listen to them instead. This comes as my eyesight deteriorates, but I can imagine that for others, listening to books over audio can be a more pleasant experience.
I have to stop people from doing this in presentations all the time lol. Just say "Runtime decreased from 117s to 34". It is really easy to mentally compare two numbers; it is much harder to start with "Runtime decreased by 71% to 34s" and find the old value. Equally brief, never any ambiguity, easier on the mind, and no weird explosions as you approach zero.
I disagree that literacy is all about reading fictional books and I wish we could broaden it a little bit more, even at school.
This might be an odd take, but I never liked reading books and have read very few books in my whole life. I do love to read news articles, forum posts, magazines etc. because the format fits me.
Judging myself by my education level and career I'd say I did just fine without opening a single book.
I enjoyed reading fiction until I studied electrical engineering. After that I felt that fiction was a waste of time. On a cognitive level I don't think it is, but I think the feeling comes from having been instilled with a sense that reading has to involve some degree of learning. As though everything I do has to involve some self betterment. It's frustrating and I feel a sense of loss about it.
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17 comments
[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 42.6 ms ] thread1. Adults read less, so children see their parents reading less often (it at all!) so do not grow up thinking it is a fun thing to do. I love reading because my parents did, and my kids do because I do.
2. Schools do not make reading enjoyable. A teacher I know suggested that their school did somethings to make reading fun, and the management refused because it improve any of their metrics. A friend of by daughter's went to a school where there were times when they had to sit and read a book - nothing kills enjoyment better than being forced to do something. You are telling kids its a chore you have to do, not something done for fun.
There are other things do. There are schools that teach Shakespeare for English literature GCSE without giving them the whole text, and without watching a video of the play, let along going to the theatre.
3. There are fewer and smaller local libraries so kids cannot discover what they like as easily. There are fewer bookshops too, because people read less.
"enjoy reading either very much or quite a lot"
2023 to 2024, 5 to 8: 75.3 to 64.7
2023 to 2024, 8 to 18: 43.4 to 34.6
~250,000 layoffs @ ~1300 companies in 2023 [1]. Add another 100,000 and 1,000 if you take late 2022. And layoffs.fyi just tracks tech layoffs.
The WARN database has similar results. Been averaging 300-400 a month since January 2023, vs ~100 / month in the 2021-2022 timeframe. [3]
That's a lot of dislocation, moving to find jobs, household chaos, school shifting, and parents with different priorities.
[1] "Layoff Charts Tab" https://layoffs.fyi
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1dvdssj/oc...
[3] https://layoffdata.com/
But I suspect that would not be that easy. I think both books and text adventures would be competing against activities with much lower requirements on effort, and much higher immediate rewards.
There is a linked PDF, but I'd actually be more interested in reading the original survey to see how 'reading' is being framed. Is an hour in the HN comments section counted as reading for fun?
I think it means actual books.
I think it excludes forums, discord chats, and general online stuff.
Kids are forced to read more than ever before to interact with their peers. The rise of sites like Web Novel and Royal Road are inspirational. I would guess that there are more "writers" than ever before in history.
When I was younger and read fiction I had access to a fair amount of copies of young adult novels that would never be front-and-center at a bookstore or library. In fact I think that most of these books were the rejects from the main libraries in my town. Violence, abandonment, resent, regret abound! Many of it was senseless and the endings were not as neat and resolved as the schoolteacher led me to believe how all books ought to end.
I’m not recommending this experience. But young men do need author[itie]s to guide them through the discomforting aspects of their lives in an un-fantastic fashion.
So was it half of the kids before or two thirds?
I know it doesn't really matter but this sort of wording does make me curiousSince they do use "percentage points" further down, presumably it was 51% in 2005
This might be an odd take, but I never liked reading books and have read very few books in my whole life. I do love to read news articles, forum posts, magazines etc. because the format fits me.
Judging myself by my education level and career I'd say I did just fine without opening a single book.