For many, reading is a hobby, something they do for fun. For others, it is seen as a chore. If you’re a liberal arts or social science student, it might be more common to read for class assignments rather than personal leisure.
However, reading books is more than a simple obligation, but a way to connect with and learn more about the world without relying on technology.
Reading is, on a fundamental level, obtaining meaning and understanding from written language. Authors can inform and transform readers through their works, even long after their deaths. Readers can learn expansive amounts about the world just through words on a page, and those words can influence their thought processes. The act of reading is an extremely powerful tool, and one that should be used more often.
College degrees not only give you a furthered education, but also a better likelihood to be a reader. According to YouGov, 73% of adults in the U.S. with a college degree read books in 2023, as opposed to the 56% of those without a college degree who did not read a single book. While it is good that those with college degrees are reading more, in 2021, only 37.9% of Americans age 25 or older had a college degree.
This activity is not just for those with degrees — more people should also be reading books.
Although reading levels are still fairly high, with 79% of Americans being literate in 2024, a 2022 Gallup poll found that Americans overall are reading less than in the past. According to poll results, the greatest decrease was among people who read more than 10 books a year. While in 2016, 35% of U.S. adults read 10 or more books, that number decreased to 27% in 2021. The poll also found a decline in how many books college graduates read a year, with the rate down 6.5 books in 2021 compared to the average of polls taken between 2002-2016.
There is some reason to believe that technology can aid in how much people read. According to a study from the University of Nebraska, college students reported that they increased and improved their reading habits and critical thinking skills through the use of social media and the internet by reading articles and ebooks. The study concluded that social media and the internet could increase students reading if used correctly, and that the majority of college students do use these tools properly. YouGov also reported that in 2023 Americans as a whole read more books as ebooks than physical copies or audiobooks.
However, a research study from the Universitat de Valencia found that digital reading may not be as effective when it comes to reading comprehension when compared to print reading, especially when it comes to young children. Furthermore, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Americans over the age of 15 read 15-16 minutes a day from 2017-2023, down from 19 minutes a day in the years 2013-2015. Americans spent nearly three hours a day watching television from 2013-2023, meaning TV is far more popular than reading.
Reading can provide many benefits. Research from the University of Sussex shows that reading can reduce stress by approximately 68%, compared to listening to music at 61% and taking a walk at 42%. According to a study from Social Science & Medicine, reading can improve life expectancy and reduce mortality rates. Reading may also help improve empathy, critical thinking and sleep quality.
As the author George R.R. Martin wrote in the book “A Dance with Dragons,” “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies … The man who never reads lives only one.”
Reading for many is an imposition. However, when it comes to the benefits, it is clear that reading has its importance. While people might rather spend time with less mentally stimulating activities, reading can help expand one’s worldviews. Whether its absorbing new facts or ideas or experiencing new worlds through fiction, reading is a great way to spend one’s free time. The next time you have some downtime, open a book — you might just learn something.