A new study from the University of Florida and University College London has found that the share of people who reported reading for pleasure on a given day fell to 16 percent in 2023 from a peak of 28 percent in 2004 — a drop of about 40 percent. Reading rates have declined around 3 percent each year over those two decades.
The size of the drop is particularly jarring because the research measured reading not just in traditional physical form, but also reading of newspapers and other pleasure reading on digital platforms. The researchers did not report on the causes of the drop, but it is hard to avoid the speculation that reading has been displaced by other forms of entertainment, such as scrolling on Instagram or watching all three seasons of Ted Lasso over a long weekend – though of course we don’t know anyone who has ever done that.
It's a shame for many reasons, not least of which is that reading reduces stress, slows cognitive decline, and even has been shown to positively correlate with longevity.