Did you know half of all adults in the UK don't read regularly for pleasure and 1 in 6 struggles to read at all? So, if you're reading less than you used to, you're not alone.
Research commissioned by The Reading Agency supported by Arts Council England took a detailed look into the state of adult reading habits in 2024 and the findings are pretty shocking but perhaps not that surprising.
Fewer people are reading for pleasure - fact
Only 50% of adults in the UK regularly read for pleasure, down from 58% in 2015.
Well over a third of all UK adults are now lapsed readers, meaning they used to read regularly but don't any more.
This is exactly what we wrote about in our very first blog post when we launched Drift + Focus back in July 2022.
Barriers to reading
Low reading confidence is a factor but, strikingly, even keen and confident readers reported that they struggle to finish what they read and 28% can't focus on what they're reading for more than a few minutes.
The distraction of social media was cited as a primary obstacle to reading for 20% of survey respondents.
Difficulty choosing what to read
Almost 1 in 4 said 'I cannot find things to read that interest me'. Curated reading selections like ours are designed to help with just that problem.
Why it matters
Regular readers report higher levels of wellbeing, self-esteem and life satisfaction compared to lapsed and non-readers as well as improved sleep, concentration, empathy and creativity.
You can download and read the full report at The Reading Agency website.
And if you're one of those lapsed readers, especially when it comes to non-fiction books, you know what to do!
Subscribe to a quarterly delivery from Drift + Focus and reignite your reading mojo.
