The latest National Literacy Trust research into children’s reading habits is out, with its Chief Executive Jonathan Douglas describing the data as ‘stark’ and claiming that, ‘We are witnessing the lowest levels of reading enjoyment and daily reading in a generation – a critical challenge for literacy, wellbeing, and life chances.’

In the sort of gloomy statistics we are becoming used to, the research reveals that just 32.7% of children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading ‘very much’ or ‘quite a lot’ in 2025 – a slight drop from the previous year, but part of a much longer decline. Compared to 2005, this marks a 36% drop in reading enjoyment.

Over the last year, the decline has been especially steep among primary-aged children and boys, with boys aged 11 to 16 seeing the sharpest drop in reading enjoyment. Children eligible for free school meals (FSMs) also report lower levels of enjoyment (31.0%) than their peers (33.0%).

Just 18.7% of 8- to 18-year-olds said they read something daily in their free time in 2025 – half the number reading daily 20 years ago. Even among younger children aged 5 to 8, daily reading rates dropped by 3.4 percentage points in the past year to 44.5%.

Girls continue to read daily at higher rates than boys, with the gender gap widening to 6.2 percentage points – the largest seen since 2023. More children not receiving FSMs read daily (19.4%) than those who receive FSMs (15.8%).

What counts as reading?

If ‘reading’ takes in text other than works of fiction, the story is more positive. Even among those who say they don’t enjoy reading, many still choose to read song lyrics, news articles, non-fiction, comics and fan fiction in their free time – reading for pleasure is still going on.

In 2025, half (49.3%) of children and young people read fiction or short stories in print each month, with two in five (40.1%) reading non-fiction books. Comics and graphic novels (29.2%) and magazines (21.3%) also remain popular choices in this format. Digital formats dominated in other categories, with song lyrics (60.7%) and news articles (28.2%) mostly read on screens.

‘Young people are still motivated to read when it connects to their interests, when they have choice, and when it feels relevant to their lives’ says Douglas.

The NLT suggests aligning reading with children’s personal interests and media habits to encourage those with the lowest levels of reading enjoyment. Its report finds:

• Two in five said they were more motivated to read when the material related to a favourite film or TV series (38.1%), or that matched their interests or hobbies (37.1%).
• Three in ten (30.9%) were drawn in by an interesting book cover or title.
• One in four (26.6%) valued having the freedom to choose what they read.
• One in five (22.0%) were inspired by reading recommendations from friends, family, or teachers.

The National Literacy Trust is calling for ‘a multi-sector approach to solve the reading for pleasure crisis and address the long-term educational, social and economic effects of low levels of reading enjoyment with charities, libraries, businesses, schools, communities, and government joining forces to grow a generation of readers.’  This of course aligns with the aims of current Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and BookTrust.

Read the full report. Children and young people’s reading in 2025