Reading time: About 1 minute
This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world for material to help other writers. Today I discuss a post describing how fewer Americans are reading books for fun…
Here is news that should alarm any writer:
The number of Americans reading for fun has declined precipitously in the last year. And this is on top of a steady annual decline that began in 2004.
Researchers from University College London and the University of Florida examined national data from 2003 to 2023 and found that the share of people who reported reading for pleasure fell to 16 percent in 2023 from a peak of 28 percent in 2004 — a drop of about 40 percent. It declined about 3 percent each year over those two decades.
The study was reported in the New York Times.
Researchers called the size of the latest decrease “surprising,” given that the study defined reading broadly, encompassing books, magazines and newspapers in print, electronic or audio form.
The study didn’t address why Americans were reading less. But the authors suggested some possible explanations, including increased use of social media and other technology, or more time spent at work because of economic pressure. Further research is needed to confirm those theories.
The findings showed significant demographic disparities among those who read for pleasure. For example, in 2023, the most highly educated people were more than twice as likely to read as the least educated, and high-income people were about 1.5 times as likely to read as low-income people. Those disparities widened over time.
