Posted on 03.11.2016, Friday

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A new survey conducted by YouGov for the non-profit Read Aloud 15 Minutes finds that fewer than half of parents read aloud to their children every day, and only 34% do so for at least 15 minutes. Fewer than one in 10 parents reported reading aloud daily for 15 minutes from birth, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Read Aloud 15 Minutes is a national non-profit organization that is working to make reading aloud every day for at least 15 minutes the new standard in child care. “The place to address the readiness crisis in this country is at the beginning,” says Dr. Candace Kendle, the non-profit’s president and co-founder. “Every parent reading aloud to every child for 15 minutes from birth.”

The survey underscores that most parents – 59% – believe in the benefits of reading aloud, but it also highlights the fact that many parents don’t make it a priority.  Nearly 40% of parents who aren’t reading aloud said they just “can’t find time in the day.”

Other key findings:

• Technology may serve as a distraction from reading aloud. Over half of parents (65%) say their child watches TV or uses a tablet (54%) at home, and four in ten parents say their child spends too much time with TV, and a third say the same of devices. Meanwhile, 41% of parents say their child doesn’t spend enough time being read to.
• There are barriers around time and materials. Nearly 40 percent of parents who don’t read aloud say they “can’t find the time in the day.” Four in ten parents also say it’s easier to find video games than books for their child, and half feel books for children their child’s age are too expensive.
• Parents’ “vision” of reading aloud may be preventing them from making it a habit. One third of parents who don’t read aloud report that their child “won’t sit long enough” to be read aloud to, and very few parents take advantage of times beyond bedtime, such as during play or during bath time, to read aloud.

For more details about the survey and to view the full survey report, please click here. Visit www.readaloud.org for a variety of resources and tips for reading aloud.