Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Dear reader, you are part of a dwindling group. Around the world fewer people are reading books, newspapers or magazines for pleasure, whether in print or on digital devices. Laments about the decline grew louder this week, as an extensive US study found that just 16 per cent of people spent any leisure time reading during an average day, down from 28 per cent two decades ago.
Researchers from the University of Florida and University College London, who analysed round-the-clock diaries from 236,000 Americans, were right to express concern about their findings. They corroborate other evidence from the US and elsewhere that people are giving up reading in favour of activities such as endless scrolling through social media or watching short videos on TikTok, Instagram and elsewhere.
Neuroscientists and social psychologists cite many benefits of becoming absorbed regularly in a book or newspaper, from improved mental health and wellbeing to educational and cultural enrichment. Listening to audiobooks — a fast-growing publishing sector — provides similar benefits to reading on paper or a tablet.
An important finding from the American Time Use Survey is a growing polarisation between readers and non-readers. The proportion of people who never read books is growing fast but those who still read regularly are spending more free time on the activity now than 20 years ago. This helps to explain why the publishing industry remains in good shape.
In the UK the Publishers Association reported an encouraging picture for the consumer market last year with a 5 per cent increase in revenues and books sold. Waterstones, the country’s largest book retailer, is adding new locations to its chain of about 300 stores.
So the biggest policy challenge is to kindle an interest in reading among those who have none. The obvious time to start is in childhood, beginning with more encouragement for parents to read to young children — something that happens only rarely today, according to the new US study.
Then primary schools can follow up, emphasising the fun side of story books as well as the functional importance of learning to read and write. This can only work if the school has a library — which is missing in one in four UK primary schools in disadvantaged areas, where they are needed most. Chancellor Rachel Reeves made a welcome commitment last month to ensure that all primary schools have a library by 2029.
Attractive and engaging public libraries are essential too, to maintain a healthy level of reading among people of all ages who cannot afford or do not want to buy their own books. The signs here are less promising, as the local authorities that fund libraries are in financial distress in many countries. In the US, President Donald Trump has regrettably signed an executive order to end federal support for libraries.
Some barriers to reading are relatively easy to remove. A striking example this week was Denmark, which announced the scrapping of its 25 per cent VAT rate on books, to address what culture minister Jacob Engel-Schmidt called a “reading crisis” in his country.
However, while initiatives by governments, charities and publishers can help, a broad-based revival of reading requires a turn in the social and cultural tide responsible for the long-term decline. Some optimists detect signs of this happening, with young people beginning to react against the pervasive intrusion of social media and its fragmentation of their leisure time. Although the evidence is anecdotal at this early stage, new readers, like existing ones, can only benefit from the enriching world of words.
