
Forgotten Girls: The reluctant girl readers
This report focuses on the 2 in 5 girls in the UK aged 8 to 18 who said that they don't enjoy reading.
National and international research has found gender to be associated with literacy engagement. Indeed, our research shows that the link between gender and literacy is deeply complex, with both many issues and many solutions. We continue to explore this through ongoing research but here are some of our findings.
During the first lockdown in 2020, the gender gap in reading enjoyment increased five-fold during lockdown from 2.3 to 11.5 percentage points between girls and boys who say they enjoy reading. Similarly, the gender gap in daily reading levels doubled during lockdown, from 4.3 to 7.4 percentage points between girls and boys. Find out more.