National Literacy Trust Report: Children and Young People’s Reading in 2024
Key Findings – Only 1 in 3 Children Now Enjoy Reading
In a new report out this week (Tuesday 5 November 2024), the National Literacy Trust (NLT) has highlighted a decline in the number of children and young people reporting to enjoy reading for pleasure.
According to the Children and young people’s reading in 2024 Report, reading enjoyment levels among children and young people are the lowest in almost two decades. The report suggests that ‘2024 stands out for all the wrong reasons when it comes to children and young people’s reading.’
The research conducted in 2024 indicated that just 1 in 3 (34.6%) of children and young people said they enjoy reading in their free time. This is a steep decline from 43.4% in the previous year and the lowest on record since the Annual Literacy Survey began in 2005.
According to the report, enjoyment in reading has declined in all age groups, with the steepest decline showing in secondary school-aged children. Just 3 in 10 secondary pupils (30.7% aged 11-14 and 29.7% aged 14-16) currently say they enjoy reading in their free time, compared with more than half of primary pupils (51.9% aged 8-11).
The report also highlighted the widening gender gap in children and young people’s reading enjoyment, with fewer than 3 in 10 (28.2%) boys now saying they enjoy reading in their free time, compared with 4 in 10 (40.5%) girls.
Benefits of Reading for Pleasure
The National Literacy Trust’s recent research shows that children and young people who read in their free time at least once a month said it helps them to relax (56.6%) and feel happy (41%), learn new things (50.9%), understand the views of others (32.8%), learn about other cultures (32.4%) and be confident (26.0%).
Children and young people who enjoyed reading were also shown to have higher average standardised reading scores than children and young people who didn’t enjoy reading (34.2% vs 15.7%). This difference was statistically significant.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Waterstones Children’s Laureate says, ‘We know that children who read for pleasure, and children who are read to, gain all kinds of benefits. From increased vocabulary to vastly improved mental wellbeing. But today’s survey shows that too often as a nation we are withholding those benefits from our children. Over the last nineteen years, enjoyment of reading has dropped by almost a third. These benefits are becoming a kind of invisible privilege. This has gone on long enough. The bad news is that we are at risk of losing a generation. The good news is that the solution is in our hands.’
A Call to Action
The National Literacy Trust is calling on the government to urgently form a reading task force and action plan with multi-sector partners to address declining rates of reading enjoyment and, in its curriculum and assessment review, prioritise reading for pleasure alongside the skills that are vital in the development of confident, motivated readers.
The NLT has also launched the #GrowAGenerationOfReaders social media campaign – backed by authors, charities, publishers and more – flipping the concept of content warnings on its head to instead extol the benefits of reading, as identified by children and young people through its research.
Working Together to Boost Enjoyment in Reading
In light of the research, the National Literacy Trust team has also stated that “So much work is already being done across all corners of society from authors, educators, influencers and families, to schools, libraries, charities, publishers, businesses and government – but we recognise that we need to work together to make reading for pleasure a national priority.”
At BooksForTopics, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the National Literacy Trust alongside a host of like-minded educators, librarians, organisations and partners to reverse the decline and re-boost children’s enjoyment in reading.
The BooksForTopics website provides a selection of Reading for Pleasure resources for primary schools including our printable posters, recommended reading-for-pleasure year group booklists, Branching Out booklists and Reading for Pleasure book packs for schools.
Our booklists support children to be given a wide and varied choice of books to read for pleasure and we do believe that choice is key when it comes to sparking an intrinsic love of reading. In light of the steep decline in secondary reading enjoyment, our team is working on some new resources for KS3 – please contact us if you are keen to contribute.
We are also building partnerships with a handful of chosen charities and organisations to work in tandem to encourage the government to prioritise reading for pleasure in its curriculum and assessment review. Last month, we joined partners from across the industry to sign an open letter to the government calling on the Prime Minister to address the decline in reading for pleasure among children.
We would love to see the realisation of these priorities coming through to schools via additional time, support and budget afforded to teachers to develop a culture of reading for pleasure and well-stocked libraries resourced for every single school. In the meantime, we recommend that school colleagues interested in developing a culture of reading for pleasure consider becoming part of the excellent work being achieved via the OU Reading for Pleasure resources and continue to seek additional sources of funding for books, like the Support Your School initiative.
If you want to expand your stock of appealing books that children love to read for pleasure, try these booklists:
- Graphic novels for primary
- Funny books for children
- Books about arts, sports and interests
- Books for reluctant readers
- Year group recommended reads
- Top-notch non-fiction
> Browse our Topic Booklists
> Go to our Diversity Booklists
> View our Printable Year Group Booklists.
> See our Books of the Month.