National Endowment for the Arts

Reading At Risk

A Survey of Literary Reading in America

Executive

Summary
eading at Risk is not a report that the National

Endowment for the Arts is happy to issue. This 

comprehensive survey of American literary reading

presents a detailed assessment for the decline of reading’s 

role in the nation’s culture. For the first time in modern 

history, less than half the adult population now reads 

literature. Anyone who loves literature or values the 

cultural, intellectual, and political importance of active and

engaged literacy in American society will respond to this

report with grave concern. 

Reading at Risk is not a collection of anecdotes, theories, or

opinions. It is a descriptive survey of national trends in adult

literary reading covering most major demographic groups—

providing statistical measurements by age, gender, education,

income, region, race, and ethnicity. The report can be summarized in a single sentence: literary reading in America is

not only declining among all groups, but the rate of decline

has accelerated, especially among the young. 

Reading a book requires a degree of active attention and

engagement. Indeed, reading itself is a progressive skill that

depends on years of education and practice. By contrast,

most electronic media such as television, recordings, and

radio make fewer demands on their audiences, and often

require no more than passive participation. Even interactive

Preface

R

Photo by Vance Jacobs
electronic media, such as video games and the Internet, 

foster shorter attention spans and accelerated gratification.

To lose such intellectual capabilities—and the many sorts 

of human continuity it allows—would constitute a vast 

cultural impoverishment. 

More than reading is at stake. As this report demonstrates, 

readers play a more active and involved role in their 

communities. The decline in reading, therefore, parallels a

larger retreat from participation in civic and cultural life. 

What is to be done? There is surely no single solution to 

the present dilemma, just as there is no single cause. Each

concerned group—writers, teachers, publishers, journalists,

librarians, and legislators—will legitimately view the 

situation from a different perspective, and each will offer 

its own recommendations. The important thing now is 

to understand that America can no longer take active and

engaged literacy for granted. 

Dana Gioia, Chairman 

National Endowment for the Arts 
eading at Risk presents the results

from the literature segment of a 

large-scale survey, the Survey of Public

Participation in the Arts, conducted by the

Census Bureau in 2002 at the request of the

National Endowment for the Arts. This 

survey investigated the percentage and 

number of adults, age 18 and over, who

attended artistic performances, visited 

museums, watched broadcasts of arts programs, or read literature. The survey sample

numbered more than 17,000 individuals,

which makes it one of the most comprehensive polls of art and literature consumption

ever conducted.

Reading at Risk extrapolates and 

interprets data on literary reading and 

compares them with results from similar 

surveys carried out in 1982 and 1992. 

The survey asked respondents if, during the

previous twelve months, they had read any

novels, short stories, plays, or poetry in their

leisure time (not for work or school). The

report establishes trends in the number of

adults reading, listening to, and writing 

literature by demographic categories of age,

race, region, income, and education. This

report also compares participation in literary 

activities with other leisure activities, such 

as watching movies and exercising.

Reading at Risk provides an invaluable

snapshot of the role of literature in the lives

of Americans. It comes at a critical time,

when electronic media are becoming the

dominant influence in young people’s

worlds. Reading at Risk adds new and 

distressing information to the discussion. 

It contains solid evidence of the declining

importance of literature to our populace.

Literature reading is fading as a meaningful

activity, especially among younger people. 

If one believes that active and engaged 

readers lead richer intellectual lives than 

non-readers and that a well-read citizenry is

essential to a vibrant democracy, the decline

of literary reading calls for serious action.

R 10 Key Findings

Decline in Literary Reading

% of U.S. Adult Population Reading Literature 

Number of Literary Readers (in millions)

1982 

56.9 

96

1992 

54.0 

100

2002 

46.7 

96

2.The decline in literary reading parallels a decline in total

book reading.

■ Total book reading is declining significantly,

although not at the rate of literary reading.

■ The percentage of the U.S. adult population 

reading any books has declined by -7 percent 

over the past decade.

1.The percentage of adult Americans reading literature has 

dropped dramatically over the past 20 years.

■ Less than half of the adult American population

now reads literature.

■ The 10 percentage point decline in literary 

reading represents a loss of 20 million potential

readers.

■ Only the strong growth in overall U.S. population of nearly 40 million adults from 1982 to

2002 allowed the actual number of readers to

remain flat at 96 million. 
5. Literary reading is declining among whites, African Americans,

and Hispanics.

3. The rate of decline in literary reading is accelerating.

■ The ten-year rate of decline has accelerated from 

-5 percent to -14 percent since 1992.

4. Women read more literature than men do,but literary reading 

by both groups is declining at significant rates.

■ Only slightly more than one-third of adult American

males now read literature.

■ Reading among women is also declining 

significantly, but at a slower rate.

What is literary reading? 

The reading of novels, short

stories, poetry, or drama in

any print format, including

the Internet. Any type 

was admitted, from romance

novels to classical poetry.
6. Literary reading is declining among all education levels.

■ The higher the education level, the higher the 

reading rate, but reading among every group has

declined over the past 20 years.

8.The steepest decline in literary reading is in the youngest 

age groups.

■ Over the past 20 years, young adults (18-34) have declined

from being those most likely to read literature to those least

likely (with the exception of those age 65 and above). 

■ The rate of decline for the youngest adults (18-24) 

is 55 percent greater than that of the total adult population

(-28 percent vs. -18 percent).

7. Literary reading is declining among all age groups.

Why not make distinctions for

quality of literature, and why not

include literary nonfiction such 

as memoirs? 

Because a large population survey

such as Reading at Risk can’t 

distinguish too many subgenres or

levels of quality and still keep the

responses reliable and distinct.
10.The decline in reading correlates with increased 

participation in a variety of electronic media, including the Internet,

video games,and portable digital devices.

■ Literature now competes with an enormous array 

of electronic media. While no single activity is 

responsible for the decline of reading, the 

cumulative presence and availability of these 

alternatives have increasingly drawn Americans away

from reading.

■ Non-readers watch more television than do readers.

■ In 1990, book buying constituted 5.7 percent of total

recreation spending, while spending on audio, video,

computers, and software was 6 percent. By 2002, 

electronic spending had soared to 24 percent, while

spending on books declined slightly to 5.6 percent.

■ A 1999 study showed that the average American child

lives in a household with 2.9 televisions, 1.8 VCRs, 

3.1 radios, 2.1 CD players, 1.4 video game players,

and 1 computer.

Reading at Risk presents a distressing 

but objective overview of national trends.

The accelerating declines in literary 

reading among all demographic groups 

of American adults indicate an imminent 

cultural crisis. 

The trends among younger adults 

warrant special concern, suggesting

that––unless some effective solution is

found––literary culture, and literacy in 

general, will continue to worsen. Indeed,

at the current rate of loss, literary reading

as a leisure activity will virtually disappear

in half a century.

Reading at Risk is testimony that a 

cultural legacy is disappearing, especially

among younger people. Twenty years 

ago, just after the NEA 1982 survey, the

landmark study A Nation at Risk warned

that “a rising tide of mediocrity” had 

overtaken the school system and threatened

a generation of students. The report

sparked a massive reform effort whose 

consequences are still evolving today.

Reading at Risk reveals an equally dire 

situation, a culture at risk. 

The National Endowment for the Arts

calls upon public agencies, cultural 

organizations, the press, and educators to

take stock of the sliding literary condition

of our country. It is time to inspire a

nationwide renaissance of literary reading

and bring the transformative power of 

literature into the lives of all citizens.

9.The decline in literary reading foreshadows an erosion in cultural 

and civic participation.

■ Literary reading strongly correlates to other forms of

active civic participation.

■ Literary readers are more likely than non-literary 

readers to perform volunteer and charity work, visit 

art museums, attend performing arts events, and 

attend sporting events.
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20506-0001

202-682-5400

www.arts.gov 

A PDF of the entire Reading at Risk publication can be downloaded at

http://www.arts.gov/pub/ReadingAtRisk.pdf

Cover photo: ©Dennis Marsico/CORBIS

A Great Nation Deserves Great Art.