According to a new American survey, gambling is now more common than reading.
Here's what to know
The New York Post reported that 57% of adults said they placed a bet in 2025. According to the American Time Use Survey — conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts — the share of Americans who read for pleasure on a typical day dropped from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023.
The reading category included print books, newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, and e-books. In a survey of 236,000, reading decreased across all age groups, genders, and education levels, including retirees, women, and college graduates, who have traditionally been more likely to read.
Fewer than half of adults said they read a novel or short story over the course of a year, while a majority said they had gambled, either online or in person.
More background
A comparison of bestsellers also shows how reading tastes have changed. The Atlantic reported that 1958's top-selling novel was the English-language edition of Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago. In 2025, that distinction went to Sunrise on the Reaping — the latest book in The Hunger Games series.
Other New York Times bestsellers included children's books such as Partypooper, the 20th Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, and Dog Man: Big Jim Believes. The article reported that sentences in today's bestsellers are about one-third shorter than they were a century ago.
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What can be done?
On a typical day, only 2% of American adults read to a child, which shapes early reading habits.
Even so, Barnes & Noble and indie booksellers have added stores and seen sales rise after being written off following Amazon's ascent and Borders' demise. James Daunt took over as Barnes & Noble CEO in 2019.
Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt told Axios, "The revival is there."
Where can I learn more?
Here are a few recent stories that explore how Americans are spending their time, money, and attention.
• Across the US, nonstop gambling ads increasingly target young men online and on TV.
• At local libraries, patrons use their library cards to borrow tools, passes, and books.
• Startup Spines plans to publish 8,000 books next year, alarming authors and publishers.
• Retail giants revived the fast-fashion cycle, pushing cheap purchases and mounting waste.
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