Reading for pleasure is on the decline, with one in five children aged between 0-17 not partaking at all in 2021, according to a new report from publisher Farshore, a division of Harper Collins UK. Children's progress in vocabulary, spelling and maths is four times greater if parents read daily than if the parents have a degree.
Reading for pleasure also helps to maintain good mental health, with 76% of children who report high mental wellbeing thinking positively about reading. Reading can be a fantastic form of escapism, and children used it as a coping mechanism throughout the pandemic, with 48% of children preferring to read fiction to escape everyday stresses.
The Reading for Pleasure and Purpose report, published by Farshore, has shown that children are increasingly turning away from books for enjoyment. Almost one fifth (20%) of parents say that their child prefers to do something else before bed than reading, and 64% of those aged under 17 would rather watch TV, play video games, or go online than read books. With the numbers declining year-on-year, just a quarter of children now read daily or nearly every day, compared to 38% in 2012.
Often, parents may see reading as a ‘skill’ that needs to be learned at a certain age for educational purposes, not to be continued for enjoyment into later life. In turn, children can often relate reading to homework, increasing the chances of them turning to other activities. Some parents see reading as being for purpose rather than pleasure. But if their child discovers a love of reading and is read to by their parent, the educational outcomes will naturally follow.
The report has positioned parents as ‘enablers of reading’ – with a focus on how reading aloud to children from an early age can help progression and positive mental wellbeing. Allowing children to choose what they read and have read to them and ensuring they have a wide choice of reading material can also help to promote reading for pleasure. As well as this, it helps families to stay connected, and reduces the risk of children misinterpreting information later in life, especially in the age of fake news and how hectic the world seems to have become.
Children are more likely to be read to between the ages of 3 and 4, but even then, only half are read to daily. The report showed that children who are read to daily/nearly every day are much more likely to read themselves daily, and around two thirds of 5- to 13-year-olds do so when they are read to this often at home.
The report also showed that when children are allowed to make their own reading choices, they become more invested and are more likely to commit. Whilst easily instilled at home, it can be more challenging when following a curriculum at school, but this is beginning to change with the implementation of the new reading framework.
