Research Report | Global Need for Increased Access to Children's Books in the Home
Countries Covered | U.S. U.K. Australia,
India, and Canada
INDIA Edition
This premiere landmark study shines a light on the independent reading behaviours and attitudes of Indian children aged 6–17 years, and their parents, plus parents of children 0–5 years.
Key Findings
In fall 2015,
Scholastic, in conjunction with YouGov, conducted a survey to explore family
attitudes and behaviours in India around reading books for fun. The key
findings of this research are based on a sample of 1,752 parents and children,
including 350 parents of children aged 0–5; 701 parents of children aged 6–17;
plus one child aged 6–17 from the same household. All data presented in the
Kids & Family Reading Report™, India Edition represent the country’s
English-speaking population with access to the Internet.
The State of Kids & reading
- More than three-quarters of children aged 6–17 (77%) believe reading books for fun is extremely or very important. (Page 8)
- Eight in ten children aged 6–17 (81%) say they love reading books for fun or like it a lot, with girls being more likely than boys to say they love reading books for fun. (Pages 9 & 10)
- One-third of children aged 6–17 (32%) report they are frequent readers, but overall, nine in ten kids (92%) say they read books for fun at least one day a week. (Page 13)
- Across ages, close to nine in ten children (87%) say they know they should read more books for fun; the same number of parents (86%) wish their child would read more books for fun. (Page 20)
- As children grow older, reading competes with many screen-related activities and 85% of parents with kids aged 6–17 agree: “I wish my child would do more things that did not involve screentime.” (Pages 14 & 15)
- Parents and children agree by a wide margin that strong reading skills are among the most important skills children should have. (Page 17)
SPOTLIGHT: What Makes Frequent Readers
- Frequent readers, those who read books for fun 5–7 days a week, differ substantially from infrequent readers—those who read books for fun less than one day a week. For instance, 89% of frequent readers are currently reading at least one book for fun compared with only 17% of infrequent readers. (Page 24)
- There are four dynamics that are among the most powerful predictors of reading frequency for children aged 6–17:
- How often a child is read books aloud
- A child’s reading enjoyment
- Parents’ reading frequency
- A child’s confidence that they do the best job picking out books (Page 21)
- For children aged 6–11, additional predictors of reading frequency include having frequent opportunities to read a book of their choice independently during the school day, and being read aloud to 5–7 days a week prior to entering playschool. (Page 22)
- For children aged 12–17, additional predictors of reading frequency include enjoying the books they pick out themselves, and getting opportunities to read books of their choice independently during the school day. (Page 23)
Reading Aloud at Home
- Eighty-nine percent of parents with children aged 0–17 (89%) agree it is important for their children to be reading books for fun. (Page 26)
- Parents of children aged 0–5 say developing vocabulary and language skills is the top benefit they want their children to get from reading books for fun. (Page 27)
- Parents of children aged 0–5 say they primarily started reading aloud to their children because they wanted them to start learning about letters and words, and because they wanted their child to enjoy books. Six in ten parents (60%) say they began reading books aloud to their child when their child was two years or older. (Pages 30 & 32)
- About half of parents with 0–5 year-olds (52%) received the advice that children should be read books aloud from birth, most commonly from their child’s grand-parents. (Page 31)
SPOTLIGHT: Kids’ Views on Reading Aloud
- Across all ages, the overwhelming majority of kids (85%) say they love(d) being read books aloud at home or like(d) it a lot—the main reason being because it is a special time with parents. (Pages 34 & 35)
- Of those children aged 6–11 whose parents no longer read books aloud at home, more than half (57%) did not want their parents to stop. (Page 36)
Reading in School
- While half of children aged 6–17 (53%) say they read books for fun mostly out of school, one-third (32%) say they read at home and school about equally, and 13% say they read for fun mostly in school. (Page 38)
- Children aged 6–17 who are given time for independent reading at school are more likely to enjoy reading books for fun, feel it is important, and do it frequently compared with those who are not; this is especially true for older children. (Pages 42 & 43)
- One-third of children aged 6–17 (33%) say they have the opportunity to read a book of their choice independently as a class, and one-quarter (24%) say they do this as a school, yet these opportunities rarely happen every or almost every school day. (Page 39)
SPOTLIGHT: Sources for Finding Books
- Libraries, the school book fair and book club flyer, and bookshops are far and away the top sources children aged 6–17 use to find books to read for fun. Parents also frequently turn to the school book fair or book club flyer to find books for their child to read for fun, followed by bookshops and libraries. (Pages 44 & 45)
- More than eight in ten kids aged 6–17 (82%) cite one of their parents as someone from whom they get ideas about which books to read for fun, while many also turn to teachers, librarians and friends. (Page 46)
What Kids Want in Books
- Across all ages, an overwhelming majority of kids (87%) say they would read more if they could find more books that they like, and kids of all ages agree that their favourite books—and the ones they are most likely to finish—are the ones they pick out themselves. (Pages 49 & 48)
- About half of parents of children aged 6–17 (52%) say their child has trouble finding books they like, while threequarters of parents (75%) say they themselves need help finding books their child likes. (Pages 51 & 52)
- Above all, children aged 6–17 want books that make them laugh, and what parents want in books for children is often the same as what kids want for themselves. (Pages 54 & 57)
Spotlight: Print Books in a Digital World
- More than six in ten children aged 6–17 (64%) have read an ebook; this likelihood increases with age. (Page 61)
- Eighty percent of children aged 6–17 agree they will always want to read print books, even though there are ebooks available. (Page 64)
Study Methodology
- The study was managed and fielded by YouGov, using their panel of India-based respondents.
- The sample consisted of parents with children aged 6–17 who first completed a series of questions before passing the survey on to one randomly selected child in the target age range. Additionally, a sample of parents of children aged 0–5 completed the parent-focused portion of the survey.
- 701 pairs of children and adults from the same household completed the survey, along with 350 parents of children aged 0–5.
- The survey was fielded between 23 September 2015 and 1 October 2015.
- Final data on household characteristics including parents’ gender, region, and income were examined against data about Internet penetration in India generally and were found to align so that no sample balancing was needed. It is important to note that, as with any online survey of the Indian population, only about 27% of the population are considered “Internet users,”* and these users skew wealthier, more male, and more urban than the general population of India.** The data presented in this report should thus be viewed in light of these facts.
- Some survey language was modified in age-appropriate ways to ensure comprehension among children aged 6–8.
- Children aged 6–8 were not asked some survey questions also due to comprehension limitations and limitations on the length of a survey appropriate for 6–8 year-olds.
- Parents were invited to help young children read the survey but they were asked to allow children to independently answer all questions. At the end of the survey, children were asked to record the degree to which a parent helped them with the survey. Consistent with prior research, an analysis comparing the responses of children with and without parental involvement showed no significant differences.
- Close to nine in ten (87%) adults interviewed were the parent of the child interviewed. Therefore, throughout this report, we refer to adult respondents as “parents.”
- Data may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
Source | http://scholastic.co.in/readingreport
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Upcoming
Conference | National
Conference on Transforming Libraries into Knowledge Resource Centres 11th –
12th January 2018, SNDT Mumbai For further details contact Prof Jyoti Bhabal (jyotibhabal@gmail.com )
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