Teenagers who read for pleasure are much more likely to get a better job when they become adults, according to an in-depth and long-running sociological study.
Reading as a teenager gets you a better job. Oxford University academics conducted a study of 17000 people born in May 1970. At the age of 16, in 1986, they were asked which activities they did in their spare time for pleasure. These answers were then checked against the jobs they were doing at the age of 33, in 2003. The researchers found a 39% probability that girls would be in professional or managerial posts at 33 if they had read books at 16, but only a 25% chance if they had not. For boys, the figures rose from 48% to58%. “Obviously reading is in itself a good thing. But we don’t think that is the main reason why they ended up going to university and securing good jobs.” said Mark Taylor of Nuffield College, Oxford. Read more…
