Americans are reading for pleasure far less than they used to — a recent survey found a 40 percent drop in leisure reading over the last 20 years.
Researchers from the University of Florida and University College London collected data from 236,000 Americans, spanning from 2003 to 2023. They discovered the shift has been a slow and constant one, suggesting the drop is a larger cultural change among Americans. According to the data, there was a 3 percent drop per year.