Fewer than half (48%) of young children in the U.S. are read to daily, meaning that more than 13 million children under 5 go to bed every night without a bedtime story.

The percentage of children read to daily drops even lower (to 36%) among low-income families, whose children face the highest risk of literacy problems. Even among high-income families, however, more than 2 out of every 5 children are not read to daily.

So why aren't more parents reading aloud to their children?

Families living in poverty often lack the money to buy new books, as well as access to libraries. In fact, 61% of low-income families have no children's books in their homes. Parents who may not have been read to as children themselves may not realize the tremendous value of reading to their own children.

Low literacy rates are not just the result of economic poverty; they are also the result of time poverty, something that affects nearly every parent in our country. Responsibilities at work, community activities, the television, and video games all make it difficult to carve out time for a parent and child to sit down together to read a favorite book.

The data cited above comes from "Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook," a Reach Out and Read-commissioned study on the percentage of parents who are reading aloud to children ages 0-5 years. The Chartbook is designed as a resource for policymakers and professionals who are working to optimize the early language and literacy experiences of young children. Drawing on data from the National Survey of Children's Health (2003), National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) (2005), and Reach Out and Read National Center this chartbook presents "reading snapshots" for each state, with comparative rankings on key literacy indicators.

Download the Chartbook (PDF)

• Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook (complete document)
• Overview
• Executive Summary
• State by State Narratives
• Footnotes and References

Individual State Reports

Alabama	Kentucky	North Dakota
Alaska	Louisiana	Ohio
Arizona	Maine	Oklahoma
Arkansas	Maryland	Oregon
California	Massachusetts	Pennsylvania
Colorado	Michigan	Rhode Island
Connecticut	Minnesota	South Carolina
Delaware	Mississippi	South Dakota
District of Columbia	Missouri	Tennessee
Florida	Montana	Texas
Georgia	Nebraska	Utah
Hawaii	Nevada	Vermont
Idaho	New Hampshire	Virginia
Illinois	New Jersey	Washington
Indiana	New Mexico	West Virginia
Iowa	New York	Wisconsin
Kansas	North Carolina	Wyoming