The researchers at the Australian National University and the University of Nevada in the US in their new study has discovered the world’s biggest bookworms countries – and revealed that having more books growing up, even if you don’t necessarily read more, improves educational outcomes.
In fact, adults with university degrees, but who grew up with fewer books, had the same level of literacy as those who left school in year 9, but who had a lot of household books as a teen.
The study, published in the journal Social Science Research, found the number of household books at the age 16 had a direct positive relationship with literacy, numeracy and IT skill in later years – independent of how much tertiary study a person did, or how often they read as an adult.
