Family Reading to Young Children

Reading to young children promotes language acquisition and is linked with literacy development and, in later years, with achievement in reading comprehension and overall success in school.100 The percentage of young children read to three or more times per week by a family member is one indicator of how well young children are being prepared for school.

Indicator ED1: Percentage of children ages 3–5 who were read to three or more times in the last week by a family member by mother's education, selected years 1993–2019
Indicator ED1: Percentage of children ages 3–5 who were read to three or more times in the last week by a family member by mother's education, selected years 1993–2019

NOTE: Estimates are based on children ages 3–5 who have yet to enter kindergarten. Children without mothers or female guardians in the home are not included in the estimates. Prior to 2012, National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) surveys were administered by telephone with an interviewer. NHES:2012 used self-administered paper-and-pencil questionnaires that were mailed to respondents. For NHES:2016, all sampled households received initial contact by mail. Although the majority of respondents completed paper questionnaires, a small sample of cases were part of a web experiment with mailed invitations to complete the survey online. For NHES:2019, the majority of data were collected using a web-based survey instrument that respondents accessed with credentials they received in a mailed invitation. Paper surveys were used for nonresponse follow-up and for a small experiment. Measurable differences in estimates between 2012, 2016, 2019, and prior years could reflect actual changes in the population, or the changes may have resulted from the mode change. Some data were revised from previously published figures.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Surveys Program.

  • In 2019, approximately 85% of children ages 3–5 who were not yet in kindergarten were read to three or more times per week by a family member. This percentage was higher than the percentage in 1993 (78%), although it fluctuated in the intervening years.
  • The percentage of children who were read to three or more times per week by a family member in 2019 was generally higher for those whose mothers had higher levels of educational attainment. For example, 91% of children whose mothers had at least a bachelor's degree were read to three or more times per week, compared with 84% of children whose mothers had some college education, including a vocational, technical, or associate's degree; 80% of children whose mothers had a high school diploma or equivalent; and 71% of children whose mothers had less than a high school diploma.
  • For children whose mothers had less than a high school diploma, the percentage of children who were read to three or more times per week by a family member was higher in 2019 (71%) than in 1993 (60%).
  • In 2019, the percentages of children who were read to three or more times per week by a family member were higher for non-Hispanic children who were White (91%) and of Two or more races (89%) than for their Black, non-Hispanic (75%); Asian, non-Hispanic (81%); and Hispanic (77%) peers. There were no statistically significant differences between the percentages of Asian, non-Hispanic; Black, non-Hispanic; and Hispanic children who were read to three or more times per week.
  • In 2019, the percentage of children who were read to three or more times per week by a family member was higher for children in families with incomes at above 200% of the poverty level (88%) than for those in families with incomes at 100%–199% of the poverty level (84%) and those in families with incomes below the poverty level (73%).

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100 Gottfried, A. W., Schlackman, J., Gottfried, A. E., & Boutin-Martinez, A. S. (2015). Parental provision of early literacy environment as related to reading and educational outcomes across the academic lifespan. Parenting, 15(1), 24–38. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15295192.2015.992736.