Kids & Family Reading Report, 6th Edition
The
key findings of this research, based on a nationally representative sample of
2,718 parents and children, including 632 parents of children ages 0–5; 1,043
parents of children ages 6–17; plus one child age 6–17 from the same household,
are as follows:
The
average home with children ages 0–17 reports having 104 children’s books,
however, there are large disparities in the number of books for kids in the
home when considering kids’ reading frequency and household income:
Children
who are frequent readers have 141 children’s books in their homes vs. 65 books
for kids among infrequent readers’ homes.
Households
with income less than $35K only have an average of 69 children’s books vs. 127
books for kids in households with income more than $100K.
When
looking for children’s books to read for fun, both kids (37%) and parents (42%)
“just want a good story,” and a similar percentage want books that make kids
laugh.
Parents
of kids ages 12–17 are more likely than kids to look for characters that reflect
diversity in children’s books, yet about one in 10 kids ages 12–17 look for
characters who are differently-abled (13%), are culturally or ethnically
diverse (11%), and who break stereotypes (11%).
When
asked what diversity in books for children and teens means to them, parents
with kids ages 0–17 include “people and experiences different than those of my
child” (73%), “various cultures, customs or religions” (68%),
“differently-abled people” (51%), “people of color” (47%), and “LGBTQ people”
(21%).
The
majority of kids ages 6–17 agree “it is very important for their future to be a
good reader” (86%) and about six in ten kids love or like reading books for fun
(58%), a steady percentage since 2010.
Parents
underestimate the degree to which children have trouble finding books they
like. Only 29% of parents agree “my child has trouble finding books he/she
likes,” whereas 41% of kids agree this is a challenge—this percentage of kids
increases to 57% among infrequent readers vs. 26% of frequent readers.
Across
ages, children turn to teachers or school librarians (51%), and friends,
siblings or cousins (50%) to get the best ideas about books to read for fun.
Among kids ages 6–11, school book clubs and fairs are also powerful sources of
book ideas, as is social media among 12–17 year-olds.
Three-quarters
of parents with children ages 0–5 (77%) say they started reading aloud to their
child before age one, with 40%—up from 30% in 2014—saying they began when their
child was less than three months old.
The
frequency of reading aloud to young children 5–7 days a week has increased
since 2014 among parents with kids ages 3–5 (55% to 62%), yet there are still
significant drops in frequency after ages 5 and 8.
Kids
ages 6–11 and their parents agree that they enjoy read-aloud time with the top
reasons being it is a special time together (72% and 77%, respectively) and
reading together is fun. (66% and 67%)
Despite
conventional wisdom, six in 10 children ages 6–17 agree “I really enjoy reading
books over the summer” (62%), with the main reasons being “I just enjoy
reading” and “It’s a fun way to pass the time.”
While
parents are more likely to see the value of summer reading, majorities of both
kids (80%) and parents (96%) agree that summer reading will help the child
during the school year. Parents say that summer reading is important because it
keeps their child’s mind active and reading requires practice.
On
average, kids read eight books over the summer; however one in five 12–17
year-olds and one in five kids in lower-income families do not read any books
at all over the summer.
Nearly
half of all parents with children ages 6–17 (48%) have heard of the summer
slide—the loss of academic skills over the school break—with lower-income
parents far less likely to have heard of this (38%). Teachers and schools are
the number one source of this information.
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