Reading, something that in other centuries was prohibited, judged, and censored, is now deliberately banished by many. A recent study by the University of Florida in conjunction with the University of London has recorded a decline of no less than 40% in daily reading for pleasure in recent years, between 2003 and 2023. The study reached this conclusion based on responses from 236,270 American adults. The figures are overwhelming and show that it is increasingly difficult to concentrate on anything that doesn’t involve a smartphone or technology. However, this is not the only data that exposes the study.
“This isn’t just a simple decline, but a sustained and constant decline of approximately 3% per year”
The study, published in the journal iScience, provides some alarming data for the intellectual community, but also for considering the mindsets that citizens are developing today. “This isn’t just a simple decline, but a sustained and constant decline of approximately 3% per year,” says Dr. Jill Sonke, director of research initiatives at the UF Center for Arts in Medicine and co-director of the EpiArts Lab, a National Endowment for the Arts research lab at UF in collaboration with University College London.
It’s interesting, for example, to see the type of citizens whose interest in reading purely for pleasure has declined. Researchers found steeper declines among Black Americans than among white Americans, people with lower incomes or educational levels, and those living in rural (compared to metropolitan) areas. These data highlight the growing disparity, on the one hand, in the access certain communities have to reading and, on the other, in reading habits themselves.
There’s a new wave of readers who find audiobooks a way to immerse themselves in exciting stories
According to the researchers, this reveals problems that go beyond the rise of smartphones, tablets, and other screens. For the purposes of the study, it was considered reading for pleasure if participants read a book, magazine, newspaper, or e-reader, or listened to an audiobook, for their own personal interest. Different life situations are generating disparities in accessibility that do not contribute to promoting reading as a hobby.
While for some people, audiobooks don’t necessarily reinforce reading as traditionally understood, the truth is that there’s a new wave of readers who find this format a way to immerse themselves in exciting stories that escape reality. This, ultimately, is what reading for pleasure means.
The team behind the study wants to see more done to get these numbers going in the opposite direction
The data is important because it helps us understand what type of population ‘chooses’ not to read, the reasons why, and what can be done to address this. “While people with higher educational levels and women are still more likely to read, even among these groups, we are seeing changes,” said Dr. Jessica Bone, adding: “If you’re working multiple jobs or dealing with transportation barriers in a rural area, a trip to the library may just not be feasible.”
On the positive side of the results, the researchers also noted more promising findings, such as the fact that reading with children hasn’t changed over the past 20 years. However, reading with children is much less common than reading for pleasure, which is concerning given that this activity is linked to early literacy development, academic success, and family unity, according to Bone. The team behind the study wants to see more done to get these numbers going in the opposite direction, but emphasizes that change should be strategic: community-centered initiatives, such as library events and book clubs, for example.
Finally, Bone stated that “because this is a representative sample of American residents in private homes, we can observe not only the national trend, but also how it’s reflected in different communities.” Reading for pleasure has long been recognized not only as an educational tool, but also as a means to foster mental health, empathy, creativity, and lifelong learning.
