loading . . . Reading for leisure rates decline in US August 21, 2025
### Velentina Boulter
Velentina Boulter is science journalist based in Melbourne.
By Velentina Boulter
Credit: Catherine Delahaye / DigitalVision / Getty Images Plus.
A recent study from the United States shows the daily reading for pleasure rate in the country has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years.
Published in _iScience_, the joint University of Florida and University College London (UCL) study raises concern over the consequences of a sharp drop in reading time on communities, with the authors calling for urgent targeted strategies to reverse the decline.
“It’s significant, and it’s deeply concerning,” says Jill Sonke, the Director of Research Initiatives at the University of Florida’s Centre for Arts in Medicine. “This is not just a small dip – it’s a sustained, steady decline of about 3% per year.”
Previous research has linked leisurely reading with benefits to mental health and less psychological distress. One study also found reading can help develop resilience and a positive outlook on life in older people.
“Reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life,” says Sonke. “When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it’s a serious loss.”
The researchers analysed data from over 236,000 Americans who participated in the American Time Use Survey between 2003 and 2023. Participants in this survey were asked to recall all the activities they did across 24-hour periods.
“We’re working with incredibly detailed data about how people spend their days,” says Jessica Bone, a senior research fellow in statistics and epidemiology at UCL.
“And because it’s a representative sample of US residents in private households, we can look not just at the national trend, but at how it plays out across different communities.”
The researchers focused their analysis on 2 main activities: ‘reading for pleasure/ personal interest’ and ‘reading with children’.
In 2023, participants spent an average of 16 minutes reading for pleasure a day. However, only 16% of participants read for pleasure. Of those participants, the average person spent 1 hour and 37 minutes reading.
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On average the researchers tracked a 3% decrease of reading engagement over the course of the 20-year study.
“To see this kind of decline is concerning because the research is clear: reading is a vital health-enhancing behaviour for every group within society, with benefits across the life-course,” says Daisy Fancourt, a professor of psychology and epidemiology at UCL.
The researchers also noted that the decline in reading wasn’t evenly spread across the population. African American participants with the lowest education and income levels, living in non-metropolitan areas, showed the steepest decline in reading.
“While people with higher education levels and women are still more likely to read, even among these groups, we’re seeing shifts,” says Bone.
“Among those who do read, the time spent reading has increased slightly, which may suggest a polarisation, where some people are reading more while many have stopped reading altogether.”
Although the authors did not consider what may have caused this decline as part of the study, there are multiple factors that they point to including the rise of digital media and economic pressures.
“Our digital culture is certainly part of the story,” says Sonke. “But there are also structural issues – limited access to reading materials, economic insecurity and a national decline in leisure time. 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.”
The researchers stress their findings demonstrate the need for strategic interventions to help make reading accessible to everyone.
“Ideally, we’d make local libraries more accessible and attractive, encourage book groups, and make reading a more social and supported activity – not just something done in isolation,” says Bone.
The researchers also noted that while people have become less likely to read for personal interest, the time spent reading to children did not change over the 20-year period.
“Reading with children is one of the most promising avenues,” says Fancourt. “It supports not only language and literacy, but empathy, social bonding, emotional development and school readiness.”
Originally published by Cosmos as Reading for leisure rates decline in US
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https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/social-sciences/reading-rates-decline-us/