Half of parents do not read daily to pre-school age children

The National Literacy Trust has found that half of parents do not read daily to children of pre-school age, which has gone down since 2019.

The research asked parents of early years children aged from birth to five how often they were taking part in key learning activities with their child, including: reading, chatting, playing, singing, painting and drawing, playing outside, engaging in digital learning activities, visiting the library and group activities that support language development.

It found that  one in two (50.5%) parents said they had read with their child daily in 2024, a decrease of 15.1pp compared with 2019, when two in three (66.1%) said they had done this.

Four in five (78.1%) of parents said they had chatted to their child at least once a day in the last week, a decrease of 12.2 percentage points(pp) compared with 2019, when 9 in 10 (90.3%) said they had done this

One in two (56.0%) parents told us that they had played together with their child at least once a day in the last week. This compares with 3 in 4 (76.2%) who reported playing with their child daily in 2019, a decrease of 20.2pp

Around 1 in 2 parents reported singing with their child (47.5%) daily or more often, while 1 in 3 engaged their children with digital learning activities (34.5%) and played outdoors (33.3%) daily.

Most parents reported there being children’s books, whether owned or borrowed, at home. However, almost 1 in 4 (22.5%) parents said there were fewer than 10 children’s books at home

Three in 4 (74.3%) parents said they had visited the library as a family at least once in the last month, demonstrating the importance of this resource for families with young children. However, 1 in 5 (19.5%) said they had not been to the library with their child at all during this time.

The National Literacy Trust's 'Early Words Matter' campaign is working to support 250,000 pre-school children, with a focus on those growing up in areas of financial disadvantage, to support early years educators and families with events, activities and resources designed to support shared parent-child engagement inside and outside the home.

James Bowen, assistant general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “One of the most important things a parent can do to support their child’s education is to read with them at home. An early love for books and reading can have a huge long-term impact. It is therefore concerning to see suggestions that parents are reading to their children less frequently than previously.

“There are undoubtedly huge pressures on families currently and cuts to community services and local libraries certainly have not helped either.

“We should be doing everything we can to encourage parents to read with their children as often as possible – just five minutes a day can make a real difference.”