After three editions in 2016, 2018 and 2022, the National Book Centre (CNL) is continuing its study on Young French people and reading » to contribute to a better understanding of a key audience for the book industry: 7-19 year olds. This study measures the current reading practices of young French people, intends to understand what encourages or, on the contrary, hinders them to read books and identifies the levers that bring them or would bring them to reading. This year, the time devoted to books and screens in the daily lives of young people was particularly scrutinized.
An erosion of reading, especially among 16-19 year olds and boys
One in five young people never read for leisure and even though 84% of young people read for school, their studies or their work, this figure is down six points compared to 2016. Of the results « little surprising, because the figures were already alarming in 2022 ” for CNL President Régine Hatchondo. Adolescence is the ideal period for dropping out, with one in three young people aged 16-19 who do not read at all as part of their leisure (compared to 7% of 7-12 year olds). Boys are also less likely to read than girls, with only 50% of boys aged 16 to 19 reporting reading for leisure (-15 points compared to 2022) compared to 74% among girls. Less than one-third report reading almost every day, preferably at home, before bed (78%) or on vacation (58%).
Young people read less, but also less: only 19 minutes a day, 4 less than in 2022, and 2 h 11 per week on average; This duration falls to 12 minutes for 16-19 year olds. Again, there is a gender gap with an additional 6 minutes of daily reading for girls compared to boys in this age group.
Ten times more time on screens than reading books
Three hours and eleven minutes. That is the time spent every day on the screens by all young people, 10 times more than reading books. This figure is an average, which conceals profound disparities between ages with from 2 h 03 for 7-12 years old to 5 h 10 for 16-19 years old! « The space left for screens in our daily lives has real consequences on reading, especially among young people, worries Régine Hatchondo. I consider reading a matter of public health. It would take a massive awareness to highlight the benefits of reading in children, including concentration, imagination, empathy, language and brain development. ” Behaviours differ by gender: screen time remains stable for girls up to 15 years before increasing, while switching occurs earlier for boys at age 12.
Screens also blur the quality of reading time as almost one-third of readers report having difficulty concentrating and nearly one in two young readers (up to 69% for 16-19 year olds) do something else during their reading, such as send messages (36%)watch videos (34%) or go on social media (31%).
BD, comics and manga widely acclaimed
As part of leisure, young people have read on average just over 5 books in the last 3 months. Half of them are manga, a genre particularly appreciated by boys since it represents more than three-quarters of the readings of 13-15 years. Comics remain the leading genre, cited by 55% of young people. The BD/mangas/comics trio continues to grow, being cited by 77% of the panel (up 4 points).
Although slightly down, the novel has resistance, read by 43% of young people (third behind comics and manga). Adventure, science fiction and love stories are the most named types. The dark romance – a subgenre of sentimental literature – made a notable entry in the list of novels read in the context of leisure (17%), particularly among 16-19 year olds.
Depending on age and gender, the types of books are not the same. Girls prefer the novel, then comics and finally manga while boys prefer comics to manga and novels. The 7-9 year olds read more illustrated books which are then dethroned by the manga before the novel appeared at the age of 13 to become the most read type among 16-19 year olds.
Parents and friends largely prescribers
Family members remain the main prescribers of books since more than half of leisure readers follow the advice of their family or friends, especially their parents and even rather their mother (38% against 23% for the father). This trend is correlated with the reading habits of adults since nearly 78% of mothers remain readers compared to 52% of fathers. The place of parents is central to the transmission of the desire to read: almost all (90%) say that their parents read them books when they were young, moments evoked «with happiness» by 93% of the panel.
Apart from these tips, young people choose their books according to the cover, the hero or the summary. Screens also play a real role in reading desires since 53% of leisure readers use at least one social network to learn about books, two thirds wanted to read a book that was adapted or a film on a platform and one third after hearing about it on the Internet (up to 57% of 16-19 year olds). Almost half of young people buy books at least once a month, alone or through their parents, mostly second-hand and online.
Still at the centre of reading, the notion of pleasure is cited by 47% of 7-19 year olds as a reason to read, followed by relaxation and escape. On the other hand, four out of ten young people prefer to devote their free time to other activities, while 19% simply say they do not like reading (31% among 16-19 year olds). The CNL has carried out actions to put reading back into daily life with for example the Fifteen minutes of national reading, the establishment of the culture pass who facilitated the purchase of books or the organization of masterclasses in institutions. “ The experience of these meetings with authors completely changes the relationship to literature, continues Régine Hatchondo. These events contribute to the achievement of our goal: to give the taste for reading and curiosity. »
New reading practices related to digital
« The situation related to screens is very worrisome for the book industry as a whole even if new practices are developing, especially digital that keep the readership of young people ” says Hatchondo. Proof of this is that e-books continue to grow, as 44% of young people have already consulted one, mainly on smartphones; this figure is up 11 points in two years. This new practice is particularly developed among 16-19 year olds. Similarly, audiobooks and podcasts are on the rise since six out of ten young people have already heard them and listening to audiobooks has even doubled compared to 2016 (+21 points).
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