News

Cost of living crisis starting to bite for Aussie readers

Less money and less time equates to fewer Australians reading, according to new research.

14 Dec 2023 17:07

Thuy On

reading. Image is the shoulder arm and hand of a young woman on a beach reading a book on an e-reader

Writing and Publishing

Worrying statistics show that ‘almost 70% of Australians would choose reading an online book over a physical copy with nearly a third (30%) of respondents saying this is because the online version costs less.’ Photo: The Wandering Inn.

There’s been a lot of concern over Australia’s decline in adult literacy this year, with a new national study being launched to document deterioration in basic reading and writing skills. The fewer numbers of children reading books is also cause for worry. According to a survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), children’s participation in reading for pleasure has dropped from 79% in 2017–18 to 72% in 2021–22.

The survey on cultural and creative activities found that of 72% of children who read for pleasure, 32% read for two hours or less per week and only 2% read for 20 hours or more per week.

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Thuy On

Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian. She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025). Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy