John Dean – Crime Writer

Research carried out as part of the National Year of Reading, in partnership with KPMG UK, has revealed that pressures on young families, as well as gaps in confidence and knowledge, are contributing to a sustained decline in parents’ engagement with activities known to support children’s early literacy development.

The research is part of an initiative by the National Literacy Trust, supported by a variety of organisations, to increase levels of reading.

A survey of 3,000 UK parents of children aged 0-5 revealed a six-year decline in parents chatting, playing and reading with their young children daily at home, with families living in disadvantaged communities most disproportionately affected.

The report found that in 2025:

• Fewer than half (45.9%) of parents said they read with their child daily, falling 9.1% since 2024 and 30.6% since 2019
• Just over half (51.6%) said they play with their child daily, dropping 8.6% in one year and 32.8% since 2019
• Chatting daily remained the most common home learning activity parents engage in with their child (70.2%) but rates still declined 10% in the past year alone and 22% since 2019

Parents who said they don’t engage in chatting, playing and reading with their child daily were more likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds and report lower levels of confidence in taking part in the activities with their child and in understanding why the activities are important for supporting their child’s language development.

The reported barriers to parents engaging in daily activities to support their child’s literacy were:

• Lack of time, driven by working patterns (44.8%)
• The cost of activities (30.5%)
• The availability of local activities (21.7%),
• The cost of resources such as books (17.6%)
• Support from family, friends and local professionals (17.5%

Among supporters of the year are author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler, whose new Gruffalo picture book has been announced.

The story, due to be published on September 10th 2026 by Macmillan Children’s Books, will be titled Gruffalo Granny.

You can find out ways in which you can become involved in the National Year of Reading at https://literacytrust.org.uk/