Youth Reading for Fun
From 1984 (the first year for which data are available) to the early 2020s, the share of 9- and 13-year-olds reading almost daily declined sharply, accompanied by a corresponding surge in those who read never or rarely (Indicator V-03a). Particularly dramatic was the shrinkage by 2023 of the share of 13-year-olds who read almost every day from 35% to a historic low of 14%. At the same time, the share of this age group who read little or nothing reached a peak of over 30%.
In 2012, 53% of nine-year-olds reported reading almost every day for fun. The 2012 value represented recovery from a fairly steep decline over the previous 18 years, but subsequent years brought further contraction that by 2022 had reduced the share to 39%, the smallest share on record.
Throughout time period, nine-year-olds were much more likely to read for pleasure than 13-year-olds. In 2022, the nine-year-olds were almost three times more likely to read almost every day than the 13-year-olds were a year later.
For the 1984–2012 time period, comparative data are also available for 17-year-olds. The survey found that the share of late adolescents who reported reading almost every day shrank from 31% to 19% and that throughout the period these late adolescents were even less likely than the 13-year-olds to read regularly.
* Not every interyear difference is statistically significant. See the National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 221.30 for the standard errors required to gauge whether two estimates are measurably different.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 221.30 (accessed 15/12/2025).
“In addition to assessing student achievement in various subjects, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) collects information from students, teachers, and schools in order to provide a more complete understanding of the results and overall student performance. This information is collected through the following: Student questionnaires collect information on students’ demographic characteristics, classroom experiences, and educational support. Teacher questionnaires gather data on teacher training and instructional practices. School questionnaires gather information on school policies and characteristics. The results of these questionnaires help to provide contextual information for the assessments, as well as information about factors that may be related to students’ learning. These results can be analyzed using the NAEP Data Explorer: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata.” (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, An Introduction to NAEP, NCES 2010-468 [U.S. Government Printing Office, 2010]).
As part of the student questionnaire, administered as part of the NAEP long-term trend assessment in reading, 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds were asked the following question about their personal reading practices: “How often do you read for fun on your own time?” The possible responses were: “almost every day”; “once or twice a week”; “once or twice a month”; “a few times a year”; or “never or hardly ever.”
