Home › Blogs › Sarah Burris's blog ›

books reading research

18-24 Year Old Reading Rate Surges

An interesting finding from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA):

- Since 2002, 18 to 24 year olds have seen the biggest increase (nine percent) in literary reading, and the most rapid rate of increase (21 percent)

- This jump in young adults reversed a 20 percent rate of decline in the 2002 survey, the steepest rate of decline since the NEA survey began.

- Reading is an important indicator of positive individual and social behavior patterns. Previous NEA research has shown that literary readers volunteer, attend arts and sports events, do outdoor activities, and exercise at higher rates than non-readers.

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that Millennials are readers, given what we know about their civic disposition.

I'm guessing it probably doesn't hurt to have an intellectual as a president again either, especially given our last president's reading prowess.

January 24th, 2009 7:10pm
Tags:

FM Recommended Reading List

Body: 

After Mike’s [[http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/15/94454/9342|dust-up]] about the “Millennial” nomenclature, and the subsequent [[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/17/114227/902|conversation about naming this generation]], I’ve seen quite a few references to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Strauss|Strauss & Howe]], whom I’ve never read.

What’re the most important books on the Millennials? I’m talking about demographic research, not influential cultural artifacts for the generation. Strauss and Howe, for instance, have four books that look pretty relevant:

  • Neil Howe, William Strauss, Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069, 1992, ISBN 0-688-11912-3
  • Neil Howe, William Strauss, 13th Gen : Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?, 1993, ISBN 0-679-74365-0
  • Neil Howe, William Strauss, The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy, 1997, ISBN 0-553-06682-X
  • Neil Howe, William Strauss, Millennials Rising : The Next Great Generation, 2000, ISBN 0-375-70719-0

If there’s only time to read one, which first? What’re the the first entries in the Millennial-demographic cannon? Suggestions in the comments.

March 17th, 2007 10:15am
Tags:
Syndicate content