Why we should worry about the recent decline of reading, according to science

Last year, various surveys, including reliable indicators, have highlighted a significant decline in reading habits over the past decades.

The most striking evidence is not simply that people read less, but that their capacity for deep reading is weakening. According to OECD data, the proportion of 15-year-olds who fail to reach minimum reading proficiency has now risen to nearly one in four across advanced economies, with sharp declines in tasks requiring inference, evaluation, and integration of information across texts.