'Newsweek' reports that a new survey found that Americans are reading fewer books than at any point since 1990.<br />A recent Gallop survey found that adults in the U.S. read an average of 12.6 books over the past year. <br />According to 'Newsweek,' that's about three less books than the same survey in 2016. <br />It's also the smallest number of books annually read that Gallup has measured in the past three decades. <br />Between 2016 and now, the number of Americans reading over 10 books a year has dropped 8%.<br />Meanwhile, the number of Americans reading between six and ten books, or reading no books at all, remained relatively unchanged.<br />The number of adults reading between five and ten books increased from 35% in 2016 up to 40%.<br />According to Gallup, the reasons for the decline, and whether the pandemic played a role, remain unclear.<br />The largest drop was reportedly among college graduates, who read about six less books in 2021 than they did in 2016 or in 2002.<br />In 2002 and 2016, approximately half of college grads were reading over 10 books a year.<br />In 2021, only 35% of graduates still read that many books.<br />In 2016, just 12% of adults said that their preferred pastime was reading.<br />In 2020, that number dropped to just 6% of adults who said that reading was still their preferred pastime.
