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Reading: The Home and Family Context

22Nd November 2012

This article examines the important relationship between family context and children’s reading in Australia, using the available data from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). It highlights the importance of the family context in promoting children’s reading, in particular in more active involvement such as organising visits to the library or by reading to children. In this National Year of Reading, it is important to note that while the majority of children enjoy reading, only a minority are frequent readers. Furthermore, the data from LSAC show that overall about one in ten children do not enjoy reading and did not read on the diary day, ranging from 7%–18% depending on family context. Efforts to increase children’s engagement in reading will likely be enhanced if the full range of children’s attitudes towards, and engagement in, reading are taken into consideration in the design of specific programs.

This article from the ABS Year Book Australia 2012 was (first published 24 May 2012) was updated on 19 November 2012. See here to read the full article.