One in four adults admits: 'I haven't read a book for a year'

12 April 2012

A quarter of adults have not read a book in the last year. (Posed by model)

Ministers published the findings as they urged bosses to set up libraries in former workplace smoking rooms to transform employees' reading habits.

Launching the National Year of Reading campaign, they said research showed nearly half of adults had read at least five books in the previous 12 months.

Yet a quarter had not read a single book during the same period, including almost half of males aged between 16 and 24, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics.

A separate survey had shown a third of Britons read "challenging literature" in order to seem well-read even though they could not follow what the book was about.

It also found that 40 per cent had lied about having read certain books "just so they could join in with the conversation".

Around half of 4,000 adults who responded to the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council poll said reading classics makes you look more intelligent.

The Government campaign aims to target reluctant readers, particular boys and their fathers.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls added that more time would be set aside in the primary school day for reading as part of a review of the curriculum.

Parents are also being urged to spend at least ten minutes a day reading with their children.

At a Downing Street seminar to launch the National Year of Reading, the Prime Minister said the drive could prove one of the Government's most effective social policies.

"It's not just the joy of reading, father-to-son or in the classroom," said Mr Brown.

"It's also the benefits of reading. It's probably one of the best anti-poverty, antideprivation, anti-crime, anti-vandalism policies you can think of."

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