{"id":5552,"date":"2018-03-20T12:01:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T16:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/?p=5552"},"modified":"2023-07-28T14:14:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T18:14:59","slug":"fewer-americans-are-reading-literature-does-it-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/fewer-americans-are-reading-literature-does-it-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are people reading less? The Reason Fewer Americans are Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Key point to why people are reading less: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>People are reading less because not only are there more things to read, but there are more products and platforms competing for your attention everyday and this includes the infinite distractions provided by the internet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to the National Endowment for the Arts,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2016\/09\/07\/the-long-steady-decline-of-literary-reading\/?utm_term=.04f8b538c291\" aria-label=\"there is a steady decline of literary reading\">there is a steady decline of literary reading<\/a>. In fact, only 43 percent of American adults read at least one work of literature each year.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height: 9px;\"><\/div>\n<p>Between video games, tablets, streaming services and the endless trap of the Internet, it is true that there are many more distractions today than&nbsp;30 years ago.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height: 9px;\"><\/div>\n<p>So, this leads us to our pressing question. Does it even matter if people are reading fewer works of literature? In short, yes! There\u2019s proof that reading actual books on paper is more beneficial than skimming social media posts. This has also been proven true for news updates on digital screens.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height: 9px;\"><\/div>\n<p>Reading literary fiction appears to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/novel-finding-reading-literary-fiction-improves-empathy\/\" aria-label=\"boost the quality of empathy\">boost the quality of empathy<\/a>&nbsp;in the people who read it because it allows them to see the world from another person\u2019s perspective, whether it\u2019s the author or the character&nbsp;imagined&nbsp;in the&nbsp;novel.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height: 9px;\"><\/div>\n<p>And empathy isn\u2019t the only benefit obtained from reading literature.<\/p>\n<p>Check out&nbsp;seven research&nbsp;driven&nbsp;reasons to&nbsp;read&nbsp;more&nbsp;literature.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height: 9px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mlsvc01-prod.s3.amazonaws.com\/57b796ff601\/7a96f686-64d9-49f3-a97e-de0332779a3f.png?ver=1521232961000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5555\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/7-research-driven-reasons-to-read-more-literature-edits-01.jpg\" alt=\"7 Reasons To Read More Literature Infographic\" width=\"300\" height=\"852\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/7-research-driven-reasons-to-read-more-literature-edits-01.jpg 1998w, https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/7-research-driven-reasons-to-read-more-literature-edits-01-106x300.jpg 106w, https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/7-research-driven-reasons-to-read-more-literature-edits-01-768x2181.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"height: 9px;\"><\/div>\n<p>There\u2019s no better time to believe in the value of reading for your children\u2019s development. Reading just twenty minutes a day can help your children achieve new heights.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height: 9px;\"><\/div>\n<p>Enjoyed reading this article?&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/\" aria-label=\"Discover even more learning tips\">Discover even more learning tips<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key point to why people are reading less: <\/p>\n<p>People are reading less because not only are there more things to read, but there are more products and platforms competing for your attention everyday and this includes the infinite distractions provided by the internet.<\/p>\n<p>According to the National Endowment for the Arts,&nbsp;there is <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[257],"class_list":["post-5552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading","tag-readingworksheetsandactivities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Why are people reading less? 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Learn why are people reading less and should be reading more.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/fewer-americans-are-reading-literature-does-it-matter\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Student Resources\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-20T16:01:15+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-28T18:14:59+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kumon.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/literaturecoverphoto.png\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kumon North America\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kumon North America\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kumon.com\\\/resources\\\/fewer-americans-are-reading-literature-does-it-matter\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kumon.com\\\/resources\\\/fewer-americans-are-reading-literature-does-it-matter\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kumon North America\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kumon.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f43e327076bf69c9d1caee1cc8564a8c\"},\"headline\":\"Why are people reading less? 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