Young Adults Most Likely to Read Books

reading1It’s a bit surprising to learn that the kids born as digital natives are actually more into books than their parents or grandparents.

Kids these days. You just can’t pry them away from their smartphones, right?

Sure, it’s easy to see nothing but the tops of heads as young adults go through their days with eyes on their screens. But it seems they are taking time to read, too.

  1. DB Hebbard in a recent blog post cites a Pew Research study that finds “a somewhat surprising generational pattern in book reading. Young adults – those ages 18 to 29 – are more likely than their elders to have read a book in the past 12 months. Fully 80% of young adults read a book, compared with 71% of those ages 30 to 49, 68% of those 50 to 64 and 69% of those 65 and older.”

Surprising, and encouraging. This is especially important news in light of the fact that the study noted a slight dip in the overall number of adults who say they’ve read at least one book in the past year. (And we aren’t talking ebooks here, which some might assume young adults would be drawn too. Digital book readership was down by 3% in the same age group. Seems they prefer print.)

It’s important to note that these figures are drawn from AMP data that represents the largest publishers, as Hebbard indicates. Independent and small press titles, which often appeal to the younger crowd, where not taken into account for this study.

Do you have a young adult on your holiday shopping list? You might want to hit the bookstore.