U.S. Pleasure Reading Fell to 39% in 2022 as Smartphone Use Hit Black and Lower-Income Groups Hardest
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jul 7
U.S. Pleasure Reading Fell to 39% in 2022 as Smartphone Use Hit Black and Lower-Income Groups Hardest
1 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jul 7
Summary
A 2025 study of more than 200,000 Americans found the sharpest declines in reading for pleasure among Black Americans, lower-income people, the less educated, rural residents, and boys and men.
39% of children read for pleasure in 2022, down from 53% in 2012, a drop the article links to smartphone adoption becoming widespread in 2011-12 and average phone use nearing 5 hours a day.
22,800 book-ban incidents across 45 states and 451 school districts have disproportionately targeted authors of color and LGBTQ+ writers, potentially further reducing access to books that reflect many children's lives.
45% of U.S. children live in 'book deserts,' the article says, compounding the decline in leisure reading in high-poverty areas where access to books is already limited.
The piece frames the trend as an equity and public-health issue, arguing that even 10 minutes of daily reading can improve academic outcomes, mental well-being and long-term opportunity.