Recent data revealed that ** percent of Boomers who responded to a survey held in the United States in March 2020 were more likely to read books as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, compared to ** percent of Gen X respondents.Millennials were the most likely to read more books to keep themselves entertained whilst self-isolating, with ** percent saying that they were more inclined to read books, ***** percent higher than all adults in total.

A survey held between September and November 2020 found that the average number of print books engaged with per month was *** among adults in the United States who took part in the study. By comparison, audiobooks were less popular among survey respondents, with fewer than *** audiobooks engaged with per month on average.

Recent data revealed that ** percent of white adults who responded to a survey held in the United States in ********** were more likely to read books as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, compared to ** percent of African American respondents. Hispanics were the most likely to read more books to keep themselves entertained whilst self-isolating, with ** percent saying that they were more inclined to read books, ***** percent higher than all adults in total.

Education has faced unprecedented disruption during the COVID pandemic. Understanding how students have adapted as we have entered a different phase of the pandemic and some communities have returned to more typical schooling will inform a suite of policy interventions and subsequent research. We use data from an oral reading fluency assessment---a rapid assessment taking only a few minutes that measures a fundamental reading skill---to examine COVID’s effects on children’s reading ability during the pandemic. We find that students in the first 200 days of the 2020--2021 school year tended to experience slower growth in ORF relative to pre-pandemic years. We also observed slower growth in districts with a high percentage of English language learners (ELLs) and/or students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch (FRL). These findings offer valuable insight into the effect of COVID on one of the most fundamental skills taught to children.

Vocabulary knowledge is crucial for accessing the school curriculum and for performance on school assessments. It is also strongly influenced by a child’s exposure to language in the home and disadvantages in knowledge are apparent at school-entry. Vocabulary knowledge has a lasting influence on academic achievement that persists into secondary school and disadvantages are only partially ameliorated by teacher-directed instruction. Reading ability is also crucial for academic achievement, but contrasts with vocabulary as a skill in which initial disadvantages tend to fade over time. We followed primary-aged pupils from the Aston Literacy Project (a large longitudinal study of reading from school-entry to late-primary) during the critical but under-researched transition to secondary school. This data set includes information on children’s vocabulary, word reading and reading comprehension at the and of primary school and the beginning of secondary school. The data were used to examine reading and vocabulary development across the primary-secondary school transition.Vocabulary knowledge is crucial for accessing the school curriculum and for performance on school assessments. It is also strongly influenced by a child’s exposure to language in the home and disadvantages in knowledge are apparent at school-entry. Vocabulary knowledge has a lasting influence on academic achievement that persists into secondary school and disadvantages are only partially ameliorated by teacher-directed instruction. Reading ability is also crucial for academic achievement, but contrasts with vocabulary as a skill in which initial disadvantages tend to fade over time. We followed primary-aged pupils from the Aston Literacy Project (a large longitudinal study of reading from school-entry to late-primary) during the critical but under-researched transition to secondary school. We examined whether the transition to secondary school and whether participant level characteristics such as SES affected their vocabulary and reading development during this time. For data collected from this sample between 2011-2016 see: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-852671 Children were part of an ongoing longitudinal study (UK data archive project: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-852671). At the start of this project in 2018 parents or carers of children that already participated in the study between 2011-2016 were asked for written consent for their child to continue taking part in this study. No child was excluded, unless parents or carers did not consent for their child to take part. The children completed standardised assessments of reading and vocabulary ability (described in more detail in van der Kleij et al., 2022) Trained Research Assistants visited the school to administer the assessments. The children completed the vocabulary tasks on a laptop and all reading measures were assessed individually by the research assistants. The data was collected over a three month time period and each test session lasted 45-60 minutes.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, presentation of public health data to the public has increased without much of the public having the knowledge to understand what these statistics mean or why some populations are at higher risk of adverse outcomes. Recognizing that those most impacted by COVID-19 are from vulnerable populations, we developed a training program called "The quantitative public health data literacy training program", aimed at increasing the data literacy of towards high school and college students from such vulnerable groups that introduces the basics of public health, data literacy, statistical software, descriptive statistics, and data ethics. The instructors taught eight synchronous sessions (five were also offered asynchronously), consisting of lectures and experiential group exercises. The program recruited, engaged, and retained a large cohort (n > 100) of underrepresented students in biostatistics and data science for a virtual data literacy training. The course provides a framework for developing and implementing similar public health training programs designed to increase diversity in the field.This project provides de-identified data for program's baseline/final assessment , program feedback as well as grades for certain portion of the program. The "Data-files" folder contains all the data collected during program. Along with the deidentified data, code is also provided (in R language) to analyze the data as presented in tables in potential publications.

A survey conducted in 2020 indicated that more that a larger share of the print books readership in India, that was ** percent, was constituted by those aged 34 years or younger in the post lockdown period. Comparatively, respondents aged 35 years and above held a larger share of e-book readership in India since the lockdown. India underwent multiple lockdowns between mid-March and July 2020.

This data asset provides data related to the cost effectiveness of corner libraries, conducted by the Pakistan Reading Project (PRP) during 2018-20. The study aims to identify the degree to which the provision of classroom-based corner libraries improves student reading outcomes. It utilized a mixed-methods experimental design with two treatment arms and costing data to identify the cost-effectiveness of corner libraries on student reading skills. The research sample for the quantitative impact evaluation of the study was comprised of 80 schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) that were randomly assigned to receive different treatments: 50 schools receiving the PRP+corner library group (Reading Learning Material or RLM, face to face trainings, Teacher Inquiry Groups or TIGs, school support visits, and corner libraries), and 30 schools receiving all ingredients but no corner libraries. Our analyses indicate that at baseline, the PRP+corner library group and PRP group had similar characteristics, which suggested that randomization worked. Baseline quantitative data were collected in April-May 2019 by enumerators who had previously participated in the EGRA data collection as part of other studies conducted by PRP. Endline quantitative data were collected in December 2019 by almost the same group of enumerators, who received another 5-day refresher training. Both at baseline and endline, enumerators used Tangerine, a tablet-based data entry interface built specifically for conducting EGRA.

Historical dataset showing Indonesia literacy rate by year from 1980 to 2020.

Editor’s Choice

• The Healthcare IT market size is expected to be worth around USD 1728 Bn by 2032
• According to a report by UNESCO, countries in South and South-West Asia have the highest number of illiterate adults in the world, estimated at 388 million.
• Approximately 36% of adult Americans possess only basic or below basic health literacy skills.
• Only 12% of Americans are considered proficient in their health literacy skills.
• Health literacy levels in China increased from 6.48% of the population in 2008 to 23.15% in 2020.
• A recent study analyzing global health literacy research from 1995 to 2020 identified the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom as major contributors to the international collaboration network on health literacy.
• Mental health has been the most active research field in recent years in the context of health literacy.

Historical dataset showing Colombia literacy rate by year from 1993 to 2020.

Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 78.230 % in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 77.071 % for 2018. Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 70.985 % from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2020, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 78.230 % in 2020 and a record low of 41.216 % in 1976. Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Cameroon – Table CM.World Bank.WDI: Social: Education Statistics. Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.;UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). UIS.Stat Bulk Data Download Service. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

Abstract

From 2015, the Department of Basic Education, in collaboration with the University of Witwatersrand and other researchers conducted ongoing research on the acquisition of reading in the early grades in the in South Africa. There have been two Early Grade Reading Studies. This is the restricted-access data from the second study (EGRS II). Information on the restricted-access data from the first study (EGRS I), can be found at https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/catalog/1020 The Early Grade Reading Study (EGRS) II. EGRS II was a Randomised Controlled Trial that evaluated two early grade reading interventions in 180 primary schools in two districts in the province of Mpumalanga, South Africa. The interventions focused on early learning of English as a second language The study attempted to measure the causal impact on learner reading performance and investigated the change mechanisms of a structured pedagogic programme. Details of the EGRS II restricted-access data are the following: EGRS II: Language Focus: English first additional language Evaluation Focus: An evaluated intervention to improve reading outcomes in English, the learners' first additional language (EFAL). Two coaching models were employed as part of this intervention: in-person coaching and virtual coaching. The evaluation focused on comparing the impact on literacy outcomes (in both the home language and EFAL) and the cost-effectiveness of these two coaching models Region: Mpumalanga Province (Ehlanzeni District Municipality; Gert Siband District Municipality) Number of Schools: 180 (80 control + 50 in each of the two treatment arms) Data Collection Years: 2017 Waves 1 and 2 (Grade 1 learners); 2018 Wave 3 (Grade 2); 2019 Wave 4 (Grade 3); 2020 Wave 5 (Grade 4) Additional variable available in the restricted-access data: EMIS number of schools in the study NOTE: Only the user guides are provided with the restricted-access data. Researchers can access the relevant documents from the landing-page of the public access dataset.

Analysis unit

Individuals

Kind of data

Qualitative and quantitative data

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face

Research instrument

Data was collected with the following instruments: Learner Assessment forms: A Baseline Learner Assessment form (Grade 1) in Wave 1 A Midline Learner Assessment form (end of Grade 1) in Wave 2 A Grade 2 Learner Assessment form in Wave 3 A Grade 3 Learner Assessment form in Wave 4 A Grade 4 Learner Assessment form in Wave 5

A Parent Questionnaire A Teacher Questionnaire A Principal Questionnaire

The instruments were in English, isiZulu and siSwati. The Study used different Learner Assessment forms each year.The principal and teacher questionnaires were also revised each year.

Armenia AM: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data was reported at 100.000 % in 2020. This stayed constant from the previous number of 100.000 % for 2017. Armenia AM: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 100.000 % from Dec 1989 (Median) to 2020, with 7 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 100.000 % in 2020 and a record low of 100.000 % in 2020. Armenia AM: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Armenia – Table AM.World Bank.WDI: Social: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.;UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). UIS.Stat Bulk Data Download Service. Accessed April 5, 2025. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

As of February 2024 in the Netherlands, the share of surveyed respondents saying they were reading mostly or only paper books remained stood at ** percent. By comparison, the share of people reporting they were reading mostly or only ebooks amounted to ** percent.

Historical dataset showing Paraguay literacy rate by year from 1982 to 2020.

Transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn is a central aim of primary school education (Chall, 1983). However, while this aim is shared across borders, countries differ with regard to conditions facilitating or hindering this aim. These conditions encompass extracurricular learning environments and resources, socio-economic backgrounds, home languages, migratory backgrounds and the parents’ reading appreciation (e.g. El-Khechen et al., 2016; Kieffer, 2012; Kigel et al., 2015). Those determinants are also relevant in explaining students’ school entry reading skills, which, in turn, predict students’ reading literacy in primary school (Cameron et al., 2023; Claessens et al., 2009; Duncan et al., 2007). However, it is unclear at which point in a students’ life these effects are most impactful, which is necessary in order to recommend interventions in a timely effective manner. Therefore, in this study we attempt to investigate to what extent factors that are primarily time-invariant for the students affect both the students’ reading skills at school entry and their reading literacy in fourth grade. At the core, we investigate to what extend differences due to time-invariant variables affect students’ rate of learning to reading throughout primary school, or if pre-school differences in reading competence accumulate during primary school. Put differently, we investigate if differences in reading competence start early and stay the same (accumulate) or if they start early and then widen (affecting the learning rate). Building upon Carroll’s (1963) concept of time-on-task within the model of school learning, we investigate the effects of students’ language at home (El-Khechen et al, 2016). Within this theory, spending time on learning a language, such as when students have the ability to practice the language at home, the language skills improve due to higher time investments. Since students whose home language is different from the test language have less time-on-task in learning the test language, we assume that the test language affects the reading competence at school entry. Furthermore, because the home language persists throughout primary school and thus the time-on-task effects persist, we also assume that the home language affects the reading literacy in fourth grade. We consider the parents’ reading appreciation within a social learning theory (SLT; Bandura, 1977) context. SLT posits that students learn by observing and imitating the behavior of adults. Children of parents that highly appreciate reading are more likely to observe their parents while reading and attempt to imitate that behavior. Hence, parents’ reading appreciation is a persistent factor for students, both before and during primary school, and may thus affect both the reading competence at school entry and the reading literacy in fourth grade. In addition, we investigate the effects of household possessions (see Avvisati, 2020) as a persistent environmental factor under the framework of resource deprivation. Students from family backgrounds with few household possessions may lack cultural resources for a home learning environment that is conductive for learning to read before entering primary school and the economic resources to provide support to struggling learners during primary school (see Kieffer, 2012).
We use structural equation modelling on secondary data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) with N = 177,386 fourth grade students from 17 European countries, gathered in 2016 and 2021, to investigate whether effects differ between countries and if they are stable even in changing educational circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (see Gee et al., 2023; Werner & Woessmann, 2023).

Historical dataset showing Kazakhstan literacy rate by year from 1989 to 2020.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Reading household income by age. The dataset can be utilized to understand the age-based income distribution of Reading income.

Content

The dataset will have the following datasets when applicable

Please note: The 2020 1-Year ACS estimates data was not reported by the Census Bureau due to the impact on survey collection and analysis caused by COVID-19. Consequently, median household income data for 2020 is unavailable for large cities (population 65,000 and above).

• Reading, KS annual median income by age groups dataset (in 2022 inflation-adjusted dollars)
• Age-wise distribution of Reading, KS household incomes: Comparative analysis across 16 income brackets

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Interested in deeper insights and visual analysis?

Explore our comprehensive data analysis and visual representations for a deeper understanding of Reading income distribution by age. You can refer the same here

Historical dataset showing Bolivia literacy rate by year from 1976 to 2020.