Reading books or novels is not one of the favorite activities of Chileansaccording to him Study of reading habits and perceptions in Chile. This April 23, in the Book DayIpsos reveals new data extracted from the report Global Trends 2024. These establish that Only 32% of respondents read last week.
“That leaves us under the global average, which is the average of the 50 countries where the question was asked, which is 38%, ”he explains to Worship Vicente Davanzo, Ipsos data analyst and reading mediator. “Chile is the lowest result in Latin America, we only exceed Peru and we are matched with Argentina in 32%.”
Chileans, thus, prefer other activities such as listening to music, watching movies or videos and using social networks. If they are ordered in a top 10, Reading is just under doing sports, in the eleven place.
“We see that screens dominate. They are activities that are inserted in the daily life of all people. Besides, They are activities that are very transversal and that occur very strongly in the different generations, in the different sectors of the country and also by socio -economic or educational variables”, Establishes.
In that line, he warns that “It is important not to give alarmist messages, since the data reveals that 1 in 3 Chileans read a book last week.”
The low preference for reading books or novels is explained with various factors, such as socioeconomic and educational level. According to the study, Those who declare reading more regular respond to a fairly predictable profile: people with more education and higher income. In that case, reading is directly proportional to these variables.
The specialist indicates that the value of the book market in Chile can influence these data, but it is not the only one. “The largest gap occurs in the difference by education, it goes from 21% of low educational level, to 38% with a high level. The finding here is that Reading in Chile is a very marked activity by socio -economic and educational factors, It is an activity crossed by inequalitymarked in many ways Chilean society. That factor makes reading an activity that looks minority”, He concludes.
According to an Ipsos study, the source and Sura of 2022, the main reason why Chileans would not read more frequently, It is for lack of time (53%), On other reasons such as lack of interest or laziness. In addition, 17% prefer to perform other recreational activities.
“In the end, People with the highest educational level, with greater income, who have more time to read, who have greater economic capacity to acquire books, and higher educational level also, are the people who read the most. Then, it increases the gap between people and reading becomes a kind of representation of inequality, ”he explains.
As for ages, they are millennials, that is, those born between 1981 and 1996, who declare reading morewhile the Generation x (born between 1965 and 1981), They are the ones who read less.
In relation to gender, the difference is not much. He 32% of women versus 31% of men declares having read the last week. “The gap is not significant. In general, studies suggest that women are more involved in the world of book and reading”, indica.
Do we read little Chileans?
In Chile it reads littleIt is a recurring statement. “I do not agree with that idea. Today reads more than everif we compare it with other periods of history. We are exposed to the text much more than at any other time, ”says Vicente Davanzo.
“It happens that reading materials have diversifieddo not understand the reading only and exclusively as the printed book, it has evolved. That Chileans do not read is something to problematize. Maybe the question is what, when and why we read”, Reflects.
The specialist explains that the book competes with other text formats, such as music, television, social networks or videos; As the study shows. However, the success of the editorial industry globally demonstrates a growing interest in reading, especially after pandemic. “You have to take that criticism care”Davanzo establishes.
Now, how do this data relate to reading comprehension? The most recent Piacc report in the OECD revealed that Chile occupies the last place in reading comprehension. More than half of Chilean adults (53%) are at the lowest levels of the scale in reading comprehension, compared to the 26% of the OECD.
“It is difficult to correlate the data, because they are different studies”concludes Davanzo. However, it refers to the previous data to explain how reading levels is interconnected with other factors, such as educational level and economic access to reading.
Keep reading in cult
Related news :