National Literary Trust finds more children and young people enjoying reading during the Covid-19 lockdown

The global pandemic has undoubtedly had an enormous impact on all of our day to day lives, but one positive side-effect is that children and young people are turning to books to keep themselves entertained during the lockdown.

The National Literary Trust ran a survey of over 4,000 children and young people aged 8 – 18 during lockdown and they discovered that over a quarter (27.6%) of those surveyed expressed to be enjoying reading more during lockdown and a third (34.5%) said they were reading more than they were pre-lockdown.

Especially good news for fiction writers, as children are leaning more heavily into genres such as adventure, comedy and fantasy, with almost 1 in 2 (46.3%) children picking up a new book.

The effect on mental well-being cannot be overlooked, with 3 in 5 (59.3%) children and young people expressing that reading made them feel better with half feeling encouraged to dream about the future.

It is encouraging to see that even during times of great uncertainty, young people are turning to books more and more. For a more detailed breakdown of the survey results, please visit the NLT website.