Short read: The lamentable decline of reading

The tendency to endlessly scroll on social media is indeed a global phenomenon, not just in India. It is eating into other productive activities including reading. This editorial in the FT cites studies which show a dramatic drop in reading habits.

“…an extensive US study found that just 16 per cent of people spent any leisure time reading during an average day, down from 28 per cent two decades ago.

Researchers from the University of Florida and University College London, who analysed round-the-clock diaries from 236,000 Americans, were right to express concern about their findings. They corroborate other evidence from the US and elsewhere that people are giving up reading in favour of activities such as endless scrolling through social media or watching short videos on TikTok, Instagram and elsewhere.

Neuroscientists and social psychologists cite many benefits of becoming absorbed regularly in a book or newspaper, from improved mental health and wellbeing to educational and cultural enrichment. Listening to audiobooks — a fast-growing publishing sector — provides similar benefits to reading on paper or a tablet.”

The piece then suggests how policy action is needed to instil reading interest at a young age:

“The obvious time to start is in childhood, beginning with more encouragement for parents to read to young children — something that happens only rarely today, according to the new US study.

Then primary schools can follow up, emphasising the fun side of story books as well as the functional importance of learning to read and write. This can only work if the school has a library — which is missing in one in four UK primary schools in disadvantaged areas, where they are needed most. Chancellor Rachel Reeves made a welcome commitment last month to ensure that all primary schools have a library by 2029.

Attractive and engaging public libraries are essential too, to maintain a healthy level of reading among people of all ages who cannot afford or do not want to buy their own books. The signs here are less promising, as the local authorities that fund libraries are in financial distress in many countries. In the US, President Donald Trump has regrettably signed an executive order to end federal support for libraries.

Some barriers to reading are relatively easy to remove. A striking example this week was Denmark, which announced the scrapping of its 25 per cent VAT rate on books, to address what culture minister Jacob Engel-Schmidt called a “reading crisis” in his country.”

Whilst encouraging reading among the young, policy to curb social media usage among kids is also finding favour in parts of the world.

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