Cohorts and reading time on the basis of the Finnish time use data 1979–2009

Abstract

One of the most striking trends in leisure time reading is that the time devoted to reading has decreased. This is also evident on the basis of the longitudinal analysis of the Finnish Time Use Surveys from the years 1979, 1987, 1999, and 2009. In addition to the period effect, there seem to be a positive age effect and a positive cohort effect. Older people read more, as do older cohorts. At first glance, the decline in reading time seems to be mainly due to time devoted to computer and/or the Internet use and time devoted to watching TV. Control variables, such as time used for paid and domestic work, do not change the results. However, time devoted to computer use and time used for reading do not correlate, and only in extreme cases – when watching TV or reading is excessive – do time used for watching TV and time used for reading correlate negatively. There is a strong interaction between age and cohort: cohorts which read less when they are young, read even more when they grow older than cohorts which
read more when they are young. This seemed to be due for better education of younger cohorts.