Reading, it’s that thing you’re doing right now. Yes, you. We caught you red-handed. Or maybe we should say, “READ-handed.” Anyway, that’s enough of that. How much are you reading lately? And we don’t mean reading in the sense of random things you see online. We mean truly sitting down and reading for the sake of reading. Polls are suggesting that you probably read less than you have in previous years, and you’re not alone in that.
Today Compared to a Decade Ago
CBS News conducted a poll, asking people about their reading habits. The results probably won’t surprise you, especially if you read the title of this article. CBS News asked people in their poll, “Compared to 10 years ago, do you read…?” With the options being “more books,” “fewer books,” or “about the same amount.” While 40% said “about the same,” 36% said they’re reading fewer. We suspect that percentage might actually be a bit higher. Most people know that they “should” be reading and would be less likely to admit that they’re not.
Still, there are 23% who said they’re ingesting more books, and maybe we have social media to thank for that. As things like “BookTok” have pushed some novels to the forefront, certain demographics could be reading more. Incidentally, social media is also reportedly one of the reasons people are reading less. Amongst women under 50, the reason they reported for reading less is spending time on social media. For men under 50, the major reported reason is playing more video games. That being said, there is a small bright side in that a third of people who reported enjoying fewer books stated they’re doing more physical activities.
How Are People Approaching Books?
The distractions of modern life and technology aren’t great. However, the tech side of things is helping bring books to people. For those who reportedly read over 20 books in a year, they are primarily ingesting their material through e-books. 35% of that segment of people state they usually read digitally. Audiobooks were included as an option for this as well, with 11% of those polled saying it’s how they usually read. As for people who read less than 20 books a year, they tend to go for paperbacks (39%) or hardcover (30%).
Maybe the most troubling statistic was the result of being asked, “How many books do you read in a year?” Of the people surveyed, 24% said they don’t read any. So yeah, that’s a quarter of the population not taking in any books. Not exactly a reassuring figure. When that number is broken down by gender (this survey only considered men and women… another rather troubling thing), 29% of men said they’ve read no books as opposed to 19% of women. That statistic of women reading more is true on the opposite end of the spectrum. 17% of the women polled state they read over 20 books a year compared to 7% of men.
Maybe the next poll should shift its focus to the disparity between why women are reading more than men. The report reasons that men are reading less due to video games, and women because of social media. Is that all there is to it? Is there a social element we’re missing out on? What happens if you include a metric for people who don’t ascribe to a certain gender? People definitely should be reading more, but we think the survey writers need to do a better job of reading the room.
