Reading for pleasure falling among US adults.(and furthermore)

Literary reading is in dramatic decline with fewer than half of American adults now reading literature, according to a recent National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) survey. Reading at risk: A survey of literary reading in America reports drops in all groups studied, with the steepest rate of decline--28 percent--occurring in the youngest age groups.

"This report documents a national crisis," Gioia said. "Reading develops a capacity for focused attention and imaginative growth that enriches both private and public life. The decline in reading among every segment of the adult population reflects a general collapse in advanced literacy. To lose this human capacity--and all the diverse benefits it fosters--impoverishes both cultural and civic life."

While all demographic groups showed declines in literary reading between 1982 and 2002, the survey shows some are dropping more rapidly than others. Women read more literature than men do, but the survey indicates literary reading by both genders is declining. Only slightly more than one-third of adult males now read literature. Reading among women is also declining significantly, but at a slower rate.

Literary reading declined among whites, African Americans and Hispanics. Among ethnic and racial groups surveyed, literary reading decreased most strongly among Hispanic Americans, dropping by 10 percentage points.

By age, the three youngest groups saw the steepest drops, but literary reading declined among all age groups. The rate of decline for the youngest adults, those aged 18 to 24, was 55 percent greater than that of the total adult population.

The most important factor in literacy reading rates is education, the report shows. Only 14 percent of adults with a grade school education read literature in 2002. By contrast, more than five times as many respondents with a graduate school education--74 percent--read literary works.

Family income also affects the literary reading rate, though not as strongly as education. About one-third of the lowest income group--those with a family income under $10,000--read literature during the survey year, compared with 61 percent of the highest income group--those …