We want to know more, we don’t, NPR / Ipsos Poll finds: NPR

When will you go back the last time you read a book?

According to a new NPR / Ipsos survey, reading is something that the majority of Americans appreciate and want to improve. But it is far from an absolute priority.

The online survey, carried out at the end of February, heard a representative sample of more than 2,000 American adults.

According to the survey, 82% of respondents think that reading is a useful way to find out about the world, 76% say that reading is relaxing and 98% of respondents with children in their household want their children “develop a love of reading”.

Reading is “certainly ambitious,” said Mallory Newall, vice-president of public surveys at Ipsos. “We certainly want to be a reading nation.” And yet, 51% of people read a book in the last month, according to the survey. In comparison, around 80% of people have watched streaming services, used social media or watched a short video.

Interestingly, respondents who rank like readers are also more likely than non-readers to consume other forms of media. It is therefore not necessarily direct competition between, let’s say, reading and scrolling on your phone. When asked for “reasons you don’t read the continuation”, “other life activities” were the most common answer, which could mean anything, to make chores to sleep through friends.

“I think reading is against the fact that we just don’t have enough time during the day. This is not a special thing,” said Newall.

But for many Americans, that will not have priority. When asked what they would do with an additional time of leisure, the top of the list is to spend time with family. Below, it is a race linked between watching television, reading and exercising.

“Women are much more likely than men to say that they would spend this additional hour to read,” said Newall. “People with higher education are much more likely than those who have a lower level of education to say the same thing.”

Thrillers at the top of the genres list

Among the populations that read, what do they read? The thriller, the crime, the mystery of books is the clear winner, with 37% of respondents who choose it as their favorite genre. There is a second level of favorites with 24% of respondents choosing the historical non-fiction, and the memories and historical fiction equally at 21%.

Although reading tastes vary according to sex and age, there are some models to note. Newall said they were women and respondents over 50 to drive the thriller gender at the top of the list. But women’s tastes tend to vary more than men, who “merge around non-fiction or historical non-fiction,” she said.

Age, in general, plays an important factor in reading. Respondents over 65 are those who actually discover their day to read. Newall said there was a kind of transition that we are undergoing during our lives. “As we age, reading is more anchored in our daily or weekly routine,” she said. Which is naturally easier if you do not have young children or if you are withdrawn.

And for young people, as ambitious as reading more, they say “it is a lower priority and frankly, that it is a bit boring,” said Newall.

Meghan Sullivan contributed to the development of this survey and published the history of radio and web.