News

Reading for Pleasure

26 February 2015

By James

The value of reading as a tool for relaxation and pleasure has just been increased once again, after a research report by Galaxy extolled the benefits experienced by regular readers. The report, compiled by Dr Josie Billington, found that adults who read for at least thirty minutes a week were found to have higher self-esteem and greater self-acceptance, as well as more satisfaction with their every-day lives. Regular readers also experienced a wealth of other benefits, from greater empathy to planning and prioritising ability.

And it’s not just life skills that reading helps with. Readers also reported better cultural awareness and general knowledge, as well as comfort with others.

“With this report, we have for the first time … evidence of the benefits to our emotional health, empathy and wellbeing.” said Baroness Gail Rebuck, chair of Random House UK.

With a huge number of people failing to read due to lack of time and one in six adults of working age in the UK struggling with reading everyday texts, it is more vital than ever to impress the importance of reading upon everyone and to make sure that, even with the sales of paper books back on the rise, the ink-on-paper style is conserved at all cost.

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