What is the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge?
The award-winning Vision for Literacy Business Pledge provides a framework for business action to help close the literacy gap between disadvantaged young people and their more affluent peers.
The Pledge, first established in 2015, is run by the National Literacy Trust with the support of KPMG UK. We are now in our ninth year and, so far, 110 businesses have signed up and are committed to taking action.
Our Pledge signatories engage their employees in a number of ways. Some focus their efforts on raising literacy levels in their communities by gifting books to children who may not have any at home. Others contribute to national campaigns such as Libraries for Primaries, or raise money to support the National Literacy Trust's work in disadvantaged communities. The National Literacy Trust provides ongoing practical support to those who sign up for the Pledge.
The Vision for Literacy Business Pledge in 2024
Recognising the substantial societal and economic impacts of the UK’s literacy challenge, the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge brings the business community together with charities, schools and the government to prioritise literacy and improve the literacy skills of children and young people who need it most.
This year, the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge is two-fold:
Early Words Matter
We are focussed on the early years, the economic importance of raising literacy levels (from early years onwards), and the role of the business community to support this.
The UK is facing a growing literacy challenge, following the impact of the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and the proliferation of technology on children’s literacy and learning. This challenge is being most keenly felt in communities where connections between deprivation, low literacy skills and long-term unemployment are strongest.
Recent research from Pro Bono Economics, commissioned by KPMG UK in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, estimates the cost of England’s early years literacy skills gap to be £830 million a year in lost earnings and increased costs to the government from higher spending on education and welfare, as well as lower tax revenue.
The reading for pleasure crisis
Our latest research shows that children and young people’s reading enjoyment is at an all-time low. The research revealed that reading for enjoyment benefits reading skills, wellbeing, empathy and confidence, yet 1 in 3 children and young people don’t enjoy reading – the worst levels recorded by the National Literacy Trust in almost two decades.
Previous research by WPI Strategy for the National Literacy Trust and British Land also outlined the benefits of reading for pleasure for the UK economy. It found that, if all school-aged children in the UK read for pleasure every day, the number getting five good GCSEs by the age of 16 could increase by 1.1 million within 30 years, boosting their average lifetime earning potential by £57,500 and adding £4.6 billion to the UK’s GDP each year.
Given the broad educational and socioeconomic factors known to influence children and young people’s enjoyment of reading, the National Literacy Trust is calling on the government to urgently form a reading taskforce and action plan with multi-sector partners to address declining rates of reading enjoyment and, in its curriculum and assessment review, prioritise reading for pleasure alongside the skills that are vital in the development of confident, motivated readers.
We believe that turning the page on the reading for pleasure crisis will take a collective effort…
How can I get involved?
By signing up for the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge, your business can help to ensure that every child has the literacy skills they need for life, irrespective of their background.
If you'd like to find out more, please get in touch at pledge@literacytrust.org.uk.