Reading aloud in German families has seen a significant rise in recent years. A study conducted by the Deutsche-Bahn-Stiftung, Stiftung Lesen, and the newspaper “Zeit” found that roughly 76 percent of parents with children aged one to eight now read aloud several times a week. This represents an increase compared to the 68 percent reported in 2024. Notably, parents of children aged one and two have considerably intensified their reading activities.
The “Reading Monitor” also highlighted a difference in how parents use this time. Forty-one percent of parents who have regular reading experience use this time for joint conversations with their children, a frequency much higher than among parents who read less often. However, only twenty percent of these parents report regularly engaging in discussions with their children while reading.
The study also identified a connection between educational attainment and reading habits. Eighty percent of parents with a higher formal education degree read regularly, while this figure drops to just 70 percent for parents with a lower formal education. This educational divide is particularly pronounced among parents without an immigration background. For immigrant parents, the impact of formal education is less evident, although parents from lower educational backgrounds still constitute the largest group of those who never read to their children.
