Books Alive 2008 - reading research

Books Alive 2008 commissioned market research into Australians’ reading habits.

The national phone survey of 1048 people over the age of 18 was conducted on the weekend of 30 May to 1 June 2008 by Galaxy Research. The survey had a margin for error of three percent.

The survey found that:

• 92 percent of Australians read for pleasure in their spare time about once a month or more.
• 85 percent of Australians read for pleasure in their spare time once a week or more.
• 50 percent of Australians read for pleasure in their spare time every day of the week.
• 84 percent of Australians enjoy reading books.
• 63 percent of Australians visited a bookshop in the past month.
• 35 percent of Australians visited a public library in the past month.

The survey also uncovered the following trends:

• Women read more often than men – 54 percent of women read every day compared to 45 percent of
  men.
• The more people work, the less they read – 41 percent of people in full-time work read every day
  compared to 52 percent working part time and 59 percent who don’t work.
• People aged over 35 enjoy reading the most – 61 percent of people over the age of 35 ‘really like’
  reading books, compared to 45 percent under the age of 35.
• Reading books isn’t just for the well-off – 48 percent of those in white collar households read every
  day of the week, compared to 52 percent in blue collar households.
• Victorians and Western Australians are Australia’s most voracious readers – with 56 percent and 52
  percent of people in those states reading every day of the week, respectively.

Media enquiries - Andrew Parker 0402 936 466 or a.parker@australiacouncil.gov.au