How Much Time Do Americans Spend Reading Per Day?
The latest research on how Americans spend their time has been published in the annual American Time Use Survey. The survey, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sheds insight that is likely not especially surprising–older Americans with fewer childcare or work responsibilities spend more of their leisure time reading than younger Americans.
In 2023, the average American age 15 or older spent .26 hours per day reading, or about 1.8 hours per week. Women averaged .32 hours a day reading, while men averaged .2 hours per day. These averages differed widely, depending on the age of the individual. Those age 15-13 and those age 33-44–demographics most characterized by demanding school, work, and caretaking responsibilities–averaged .13 hours of reading per day, while those age 75 and older averaged .76 hours of reading per day (or 5.3 hours per week). Twenty to 24 year olds averaged .2 hours; 25-34, .15 hours; 45-54, .19 hours; 55-64, .23; and those age 65-74, .48 hours per day. There is a clear trend that as Americans age and have access to more free time, they utilize more of that free time to read for leisure. The drastic rises begin between the ages of 45 and 54.
When it comes to racial and ethnic leisure reading, white and Asian Americans each recorded an average of .29 hours of reading per day. Black Americans recorded an average of .12 hours of reading per day, while Latine/Hispanic Americans averaged .10 hours of reading per day. These numbers shouldn’t be especially surprising, given the ethnic and racial disparities in access to free time.
Work plays a direct role in how much Americans are reading per day. Those who are unemployed turn to leisure reading more than those who are working either part-time or full-time. Unemployed Americans recorded .43 hours of reading per day, while those working part-time averaged .22 hours and full-time, .16 hours.
Likewise, those who make more money per week also read more per day–again, not surprising given that low-wage labor tends not to offer as much free time. Individuals who made a weekly average of $1876 or more (over $97,000) used .2 hours per day to read, compared to those making between $1201 and $1875 using .17 hours to read per day and those making between $801 and $1200 per day reading .15 hours. Those making the least amount of money per week, between $0 and 800, read .13 hours day.
Parenting responsibilities also have a direct correlation to hours spent reading. Those without children under 18 averaged .33 hours a day reading for leisure. The numbers decreased depending on the age of the children. Households with those under 18 averaged .13 hours of reading per day, which broke down as .18 hours per day with households where children between 13 and 17 lived; .15 hours for those households with children between six and 12; and for those with children under the age of 18, only .09 hours per day were spent reading. For parents or caregivers of young children feeling like failures when it comes to getting you time to read, you’re clearly not alone.
And it’s not that the time those parents don’t have reading isn’t spent reading. Indeed, the survey included reading to children within “primary childcare.” Adults who lived in households with children under the age of six engaged in an average of 2.3 hours a day (or 16.1 hours per week) in activities like taking care of children or reading to them. This included an average of an additional .06 hours of reading per day.
Married women read more than married men at an average of .32 hours, with married men averaging .24 hours per day. “Other marital statuses,” which includes those who are not married or are divorced, saw higher averages of daily reading time for women at .32 than for men, at an average of .16 hours per day.
Educational attainment also correlated to average leisure time reading. For Americans with less than a high school degree, the average time spent reading was .06 hours per day, compared to .22 hours for those with a high school diploma. Those with some collage read .25 hours per day, and those with a bachelor’s degree read .33 hours per day. Unsurprisingly, those who have a master’s degree have the highest amount of time spent reading per day at an average of .45 hours.
All of the above data looks at the average across all days and weeks. The American Time Use Survey also broke down their information to look at trends in how Americans engage in various leisure activities on weekdays, weekends, and holidays. It is no surprise that time spent reading increases on weekends and holidays, compared to week days in most demographics; exceptions include Americans over the age of 75, those who work part-time, those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, and those with children under the age of six read less on weekends and holidays than during the week.
This year’s survey does not indicate any noteworthy changes in American reading habits over the prior year. Some changes include a decrease in leisure reading among those age 15 to 19–last year’s survey showed an average of .20 hours per day, compared to this year’s .13. That number should be taken with a grain of salt, though, as the next demographic of those age 20 to 24 years old saw an increase in reading in 2023 compared to 2022.
You can read the entire breakdown of American leisure habits on the Time Use Survey website. Information breakdowns there utilize binary categories on gender, race, and ethnicity.
