More than 1 in 12 children in the UK do not have a single book of their own at home, rising to as many as 1 in 8 disadvantaged pupils.
Research from the National Literacy Trust (Picton & Clark, 2023) shows that 8.6% of children and young people aged 5 to 18 do not own a book.
However, when it comes to those who are disadvantaged, this figure rises to 12.4% – and things are getting worse.
The annual research has revealed that the numbers of disadvantaged children without a single book has been growing since 2020 (from 7.9% to 12.4%).
