Is reading for pleasure the single biggest factor in how well a child does in life?
More or Less: Behind the Stats
BBC
4.6 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2024
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
If a child loves reading, how big a difference does that make to their future success?
In a much-repeated claim, often sourced to a 2002 OECD report, it is suggested that it makes the biggest difference there is – that reading for pleasure is the biggest factor in future success.
But is that true? We speak to Miyako Ikeda from the OECD and Professor Alice Sullivan from University College London.
Presenter / series producer: Tom Colls Reporter / producer: Debbie Richford Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Richard Vadon
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of |
| 0:07.0 | Happiness Podcast. |
| 0:08.0 | For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want |
| 0:14.4 | to share that science with you. |
| 0:16.1 | And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley. |
| 0:19.4 | I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that |
| 0:25.5 | calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:31.7 | Hello and thanks for downloading the more or less podcast. |
| 0:35.2 | We're your weekly guide to the numbers in the news and in life and I'm Tom Coals. |
| 0:39.8 | This week we're talking about reading and in particular children reading for pleasure |
| 0:46.4 | something they're doing purely for the joy of it and not just because their teacher says they have to |
| 0:51.8 | loyal listener Dionne Watts got in touch after she heard children's author, Julia Donaldson, |
| 0:56.4 | who wrote their much-loved Grufflow books, make this claim about reading for pleasure on |
| 1:01.4 | Radio 4's analysis. Research by the organisation about Reading for Pleasure on Radio Falls Analysis. |
| 1:03.2 | Research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, |
| 1:07.7 | OECD for short, shows that Reading for Pleasure is the single biggest factor in how well a child does in life. |
| 1:16.0 | If you think about it for a second, that is a remarkably big claim. |
| 1:21.0 | I think any claim that somebody has isolated the kind of single factor behind life chances is something |
| 1:27.9 | that sort of doesn't pass the smell test and people probably should have treated it with a bit more skepticism. |
| 1:34.7 | That's Professor Alice Sullivan, more from her in a bit. |
| 1:37.4 | So what is going on? |
| 1:39.3 | Debbie Richford has been looking into it. |
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