Reading to children from a young age leads to greater happiness, educational success, empathy and social mobility – no wonder the government wants to encourage everyone to do it more. To this end, next year has been decreed the National Year of Reading 2026. It couldn’t be more timely.
Reading is in crisis. Picking up a book for pleasure among children and young people in the UK is at its lowest level in 20 years. According to the National Literacy Trust, only one in three eight- to 18-year‑olds enjoy reading in their spare time – a 36% drop in two decades. The decline is worst among teenage boys and the poorest children. A quarter of pupils left primary school in England this year without adequate reading skills. All of this should be no surprise given that half of adults in the UK don’t read regularly themselves and research shows that many parents don’t enjoy reading to their children.
