Young People Reading in 2005: The second study of young people’s reading habits: An executive summary

This is a summary of the report relating to the second of what were intended to be fiveyearly surveys of what young people in England are reading, and what they say their reading means to them. The aim of the project is to provide regular ‘snapshots’ of young people’s reading which can be used both to provide information about the particular years covered by each survey, and, perhaps more importantly, by repeating the exercise, to make it possible to identify and monitor trends in juvenile reading habits. The project is not concerned with evaluating reading ability, but with finding out what children read; how they come into contact with all kinds of reading matter (from comics and magazines to more ‘traditional’ books, both fiction and non-fiction); what their preferences are; whether they are satisfied with the kinds of publications available to them; what kinds of people influence their choice of reading matter; how they select what to read; where they buy what they read; reading in relation to other out of school/leisure activities, and so on. In addition, a longer questionnaire for older readers (11 – 16 years) provides a great deal of information beyond the core areas about what is being read and why. For instance, young people in this age-group are asked to explore what part reading plays in their understanding of matters relating to their health, their attitudes to social issues, and their ability to resolve problems and evaluate risks.