A new report from the National Literary Trust has found that less than 10% of teenage boys (aged 14 to 16 years) read for pleasure. Research found that fewer than one in 10 boys (9.8%) aged 14 to 16 in the UK read daily, compared to 17.6% of girls.
The report which surveyed 80,000 young people aged 11 to 16 found almost half (46.9%) of eight- to 11-year-olds enjoyed reading. That then fell to less than a third (29.5%) of 11- to 14-year-olds, and 28.6% for 14- to 16-year-olds.
By mid-adolescence, the report discovered that daily reading was “uncommon”, with 31.1% of children aged eight to 11 reading daily, which dropped to 17.1% between the ages of 11 and 14, and 14% of those aged 14 to 16.
Reading rates were also found to be lower for boy across all age groups. For example: 36% of girls aged eight to 11 said they read daily, compared to 26.3% of boys of the same age. By the age of 14 to 16, this falls to 17.6% of girls and just 9.8% of boys.
While reading levels decline for both boys and girls in early adolescence, there are, according to the NLT “signs of recovery” among girls in later teenage years. Boys reading engagement unfortunately remain persistently low.
The report also found that some of the reasoning behind the drop in reading for pleasure was teenage lives becoming overwhelmed by schoolwork, screens and sports.
Jonathan Douglas, the NLT chief executive said: “Over the past 20 years, children and young people’s enjoyment of reading and their daily reading habits have fallen steeply to their lowest levels on record, with the drop especially pronounced for teenagers.
“As young people grow older, reading increasingly competes with a multitude of pressures on their time, changing routines, a wider range of interests and activities and greater independence. As a result, reading can become easier to displace, particularly when it is not rooted in daily life. Teenage boys’ reading is especially fragile.”
The National Literacy Trust’s report, ‘Teenage reading: (Re)framing the challenge’, coincides with the National Year of Reading. The year-long UK-wide campaign, led by the Department for Education and the NLT, aims to boost reading for pleasure, particularly among children and young people, by connecting reading with other passions such as hobbies and socialising.
Douglas explains: “Teenagers themselves told us they are more likely to read when it connects to their interests, such as football, video games and friendship, when they have choice over what and how they read, and when reading fits naturally into their lives.
“Recognising how reading competes with, and can complement, the many ways young people engage with text today will be key to helping more teenagers develop and sustain a reading habit which can boost their learning, wellbeing and confidence at a pivotal moment in their lives.”
