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title: Americans Read 19 Minutes per Day
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# You Won't Believe How Little Americans Read

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by 

[Bijan Stephen](https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/)


## Bijan Stephen


Jun 22, 2014 9:13 PM UTC

by 

[Bijan Stephen](https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/)


## Bijan Stephen


Jun 22, 2014 9:13 PM UTC

Since the arrival of Gutenberg’s printing press in 1450, the primacy of the written word — as a means of distributing information, for delivering pleasure — has been mostly unquestioned. But with the rise of radio, television, and now the Internet, print’s reign has come under fire, and is perhaps approaching an end.

A recent study from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that the average American spends only [19 minutes a day reading](http://mic.com/articles/91697/you-ll-be-shocked-at-how-much-time-per-day-young-people-spend-reading); young people read less than ever, apparently, with people ages 25 to 34 reading eight minutes a day on weekends and holidays, while those 20 to 24 average around 10\. This, of course, is a decline: a report from Common Sense Media found that 45% of 17-year-olds admit only reading for pleasure a few times a year — up from 19% in 1984.

The causes implicated were obvious, naturally having to do with the ubiquitous presence of screens in our lives. Is this progress? It’s hard to say. Vox has some [pretty charts](http://www.vox.com/2014/4/11/5553006/how-americans-spend-their-time-in-6-charts) that’ll help you decide for yourself.

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