Children’s enjoyment of writing has fallen to ‘crisis point’, research finds

Only one in three UK children now enjoy writing in their free time – including text messages – with those on free school meals most likely to do so

New research from the National Literacy Trust shows that children’s interest in writing has reached a “crisis point”, with the charity saying an “alarmingly low” level of children and young people enjoy writing.

In a survey conducted by the trust across the UK, just a third (34.6%) of young people aged eight to 18 said that they enjoy writing in their free time. Although three in four children starting school said that they enjoyed writing, this dropped to one in four by the age of 16.