Only half of pre-school children being read to daily, study finds

Survey finds proportion of UK toddlers having story time fell by a fifth in five years

The proportion of toddlers being read to every day has dropped by a fifth over the last five years, according to research warning that the decline is a significant threat to child development.

The annual Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer survey from Nielsen Book Research, interviewed 1,596 parents of 0 to 13-year-olds, and 417 14 to 17-year-olds in the UK last autumn. It found that while 69% of preschool children were read to daily in 2013, that figure had dropped to just 51%.

21% of parents of three to four-year-olds “don’t feel comfortable in bookshops” and 46% are “overwhelmed" by choice

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