Adult reading habits are positively associated with educational attainment: the more education a person attained, the more likely that person was to report reading newspapers or magazines, books, or letters and notes daily in 2003.

The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) reports on the literacy habits of adults age 16 or older in the United States by asking them how often they read three types of printed materials in English: newspapers or magazines, books, or letters and notes. On a daily basis, 48 percent of adults reported reading newspapers or magazines, 32 percent reported reading books, and 51 percent reported reading letters and notes (see table 20-1). In comparison, the percentages of adults who reported reading less than once a week or never was 15 percent for newspapers or magazines, 38 percent for books, and 20 percent for letters and notes. Eighty-eight percent of adults reported having 25 or more books in their home.

Along with other personal and family characteristics, a person’s educational attainment was positively associated with the frequency of reading any of the three types of printed materials as well as having 25 or more books in the home in 2003. For example, 46 percent of adults with a bachelor’s or higher degree reported reading books daily, compared with 35 percent of those with some college education, 24 percent of those with a high school diploma or equivalent, and 21 percent of those with less than a high school diploma.¹

Among the other individual and family characteristics related to differences in reading habits were sex and race/ethnicity. Females were more likely than males to report reading books or letters and notes daily. White adults were more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to report reading newspapers or magazines or letters and notes daily, and to have 25 or more books in the home. Hispanic adults were less likely than White, Black, or Asian adults to report reading in English any of the three types of materials daily or to have 25 or more books in the home.

Poverty was negatively associated with adults’ frequency of reading any of the three types of printed materials in 2003 and having 25 or more books in the home. That is, poor adults were less likely than near-poor adults, who were in turn less likely than nonpoor adults,² to report reading any of the three types of printed materials daily or to have at least 25 books in their home.

¹Included in this category are those still enrolled in high school. In 2003, this accounted for 3 percent of the total population age 16 or older. (back to text)

²“Poor” is defined to include those families below the poverty threshold; “near-poor” is defined as 100–199 percent of the poverty threshold; and “nonpoor” is defined as 200 percent or more than the poverty threshold. (back to text)