Children’s books
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Reading Aloud Monitor 2026: Reading aloud is becoming more popular among parents
30/10/2026
Translation: machine translated
Reading aloud is a trend: Parents of one-, two-, and eight-year-old children in particular are reading aloud significantly more. This is shown by the 2026 German Reading Aloud Monitor. A quarter of children still lack this experience.
Since 2022, the German Reading Monitor has been pointing in the same direction: the proportion of parents who read to their children regularly is growing. For the 2026 survey, 76.4 percent of parents surveyed stated that they read to their one- to eight-year-old children at least several times a week. In 2024, this figure was 67.7 percent – an increase of 8.7 percentage points. Conversely, the proportion of those who read less than once a week is falling from 32.3 to 23.6 percent. In 12.4 percent of families, children are never read to; in 2024, this was 18.4 percent.
Early childhood development is particularly formative and lays many foundations for language, personality, and later learning to read. The fact that more parents are reading to their toddlers in particular is a signal that gives cause for hope in the current reading crisis.
The group that has changed the most is the youngest – and, somewhat surprisingly, the eight-year-olds. Among one-year-olds, the proportion of parents who read regularly rose from 59 to 75 percent, and among two-year-olds from 78 to 93 percent. Among eight-year-olds, an age at which reading aloud usually gradually tapers off, the figure climbed from 35 to 55 percent.
Reading aloud routine encourages conversations with children
41 percent of parents with regular reading-aloud experience often use the time for conversations with their children. Among parents without this routine, the figure is 20 percent. At the same time, many families turn to alternatives: audiobooks and audio plays are at the top with 62 percent, ahead of playing together (42.1 percent) and fooling around (29.6 percent).
When reading aloud, parents can encourage their children to speak and thus incidentally strengthen their vocabulary and language comprehension. Neither a music box nor an audiobook can achieve that.
In doing so, the educational researcher reinforces the position of Stiftung Lesen that reading aloud should be anything but a quiet time for children. Reading aloud is a time to discover stories together, to learn, and to have fun. The reading-aloud time also strengthens the bond between parents and children.
Reading aloud needs role models
The positive trend masks a difference that runs through the entire reading crisis. 80 percent of parents with a higher formal education level read aloud regularly, compared to 70 percent of parents with a lower formal education. It is striking where this gap occurs: primarily among parents without a migration background. For parents with a migration background, the educational background has a less pronounced effect – even if parents with a lower formal education represent the largest group of non-readers there.
From past surveys, we know that one's own reading-aloud experiences can bridge exactly this educational gap.
Reading aloud must become more firmly established
For Stiftung Lesen, the figures show that the work of recent years is having an effect – and that they must not let up.
The results are motivating, but we must not forget that almost a quarter of children still lack important reading-aloud experiences. In addition, there are new parents every day who need to learn how important reading aloud is for their child's development. This means: just because the trend is right, our mission is not over.
The three initiators of the study – Deutsche Bahn Foundation, Stiftung Lesen, and Die Zeit – are calling for the joy of reading aloud to be passed on. Book gifts could help, they argue, because in families where reading aloud is rare, the material is often simply missing. There is also a great need for reading material in schools and daycare centers.
Here are three practical suggestions from my editorial colleague Patrick Vogt, who is an enthusiastic reader himself:
Children’s books
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Header image: Pexels
Carmen Baumann
Senior Editor
Carmen.Baumann@digitecgalaxus.chBook lover and loud laugher.
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