From Publishing Perspectives:
[T]he program this year is citing serious findings by the National Literary Trust.
Quoting from a summary of the new study’s findings:
“Research from the National Literacy Trust, published today, shows levels of daily reading among children and young people in sharp decline: just 25.8 percent of children said they read daily in their free time in 2019, the lowest level the National Literacy Trust recorded since it surveyed children in 2005.
“Levels of enjoyment are also down. More than half (53 percent) of children and young people said they enjoyed reading either ‘very much’ or ‘quite a lot’—the lowest level evidenced by the National Literacy Trust since 2013.
“The report, published on the National Literacy Trust website today, is entitled National Literacy Trust (2020) Children and Young People’s Reading in 2019. Findings from the National Literacy Trust’s ninth Annual Literacy Survey of 56,906 children and young people aged 9 to 18 in the UK in 2019.
“Frequency and enjoyment are two of the three key elements that make good readers, as defined by the National Literacy Trust’s Read on. Get On. (ROGO) Index, the third being cognitive reading skills.”
Link to the rest at Publishing Perspectives
I’ve seen this stuff year after year for over 50 years. By now, there can’t be anyone left who can read. But book sales have increased for all that time.
…and the slide to the world of Idiocracy continues unabated.
I’m so glad our son is teaching his offspring about the joys of reading. I can’t imagine a world where people do not read for enjoyment but I guess it’s growing all around me.