Aging Boomers Could Drive Reading Boom, Says NPD Study; Reading is One of Four Significant Changes in How Time is Spent Once Children Leave the Nest.PORT WASHINGTON Port Washington, uninc. town (1990 pop. 15,387), Nassau co., SE N.Y., a suburb of New York City, on the north shore of Long Island and Manhasset Bay. There is extensive manufacturing, much of it reflecting the region's past association with the aircraft and aerospace , N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 1999-- A new study reveals that as Baby Boomers See generation X. enter a new stage of life, namely one without children, one of the significant changes in how they spend their days is that they spend more time reading. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a new study by The NPD Group The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading global market research company[1] founded in 1967 and provides consumer and retail information to manufacturers and retailers. Using actual sales data from retailers and distributors as well as consumer-reported purchasing behavior, NPD , Time Lines: How Americans Spent Their Time During the 90's, there are four key changes in the way older Americans spend time once their children leave the nest: 1)less time working, 2)less time on child care, 3)more time watching TV and 4)more time reading. No other daily activities change more than these four. Key Changes in the Way We Spend Time 45 - 65 year olds vs. 24 - 40 Year Olds: -0-
Activity Change in No. of Minutes Per Day
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Work for Pay -39 minutes
Child Care -36 minutes
Watching Television +32 minutes
Reading +19 minutes
"It is inevitable that we will adopt new behavior as we age,"
states NPD Vice President Harry Balzer, who conducted the study.
"After all, as the time constraints of child care and work ease, it is
only natural to look for new ways to fill that time. What is
surprising is that reading is second only to television as the most
common way we spend newly-found free time. Reading, an activity that
has been declining for some time, may be the second biggest benefactor
- after television - of the increase in the number of older Americans
and their need to occupy their time."
In the study, NPD found that while time spent reading is
decreasing among individuals in every age group, there is a
significant increase in time spent reading as we age. While younger
twenty-somethings spent an average of only 24 minutes per day reading,
Americans over age 50 clocked nearly twice as much time per day on
that activity.
Average Daily Minutes Spent Reading By Age:
Age 1992-1998
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Under 25 24
25 - 29 24
30 - 34 28
35 - 39 31
40 - 44 35
45 - 49 41
50 - 54 44
55 - 64 53
This trend, coupled with shifting demographics The attributes of people in a particular geographic area. Used for marketing purposes, population, ethnic origins, religion, spoken language, income and age range are examples of demographic data. as Boomers enter middle age, could mean a windfall windfall An unexpected profit or gain. An investor holding a stock that increases greatly in price because of an unexpected takeover offer receives a windfall. for publishers. In the past, Boomers have impacted American American, river, 30 mi (48 km) long, rising in N central Calif. in the Sierra Nevada and flowing SW into the Sacramento River at Sacramento. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill (see Sutter, John Augustus) along the river in 1848 led to the California gold rush of culture as they've they've Contraction of they have. they've have entered other key life stages, and they are most likely to do so again as they grow older and find time to read. "This will be a huge opportunity for marketers," Balzer believes. "And what will be most interesting will be how creative the industry can be in developing the material that people want to read in the format that they want to read it. Given recent changes in the way Americans are getting information - not just books, magazines and newspapers anymore, but also the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the - it remains to be seen how each of these media will fare, and even more exciting, what new media may be developed that we can't even imagine now!" About the Study Time Lines: How Americans Spent Their Time During the 90's is a special report compiled by The NPD Group. Findings are based on information collected from 24,000 men and women who kept daily diaries of all activities for one week during March or April, 1992 - 1999. In addition to reading, the report tracks numerous activities including eating, cooking, commuting, working, shopping exercising, entertaining and more. About The NPD Group The NPD Group is an international marketing information company headquartered in Port Washington, NY. Founded in 1953, the firm specializes in providing marketing information and associated computer software-based information management systems. NPD NPD New Product Development NPD Nouveau Parti Démocratique (Canada) NPD Narcissistic Personality Disorder NPD Norwegian Petroleum Directorate NPD Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands is the tenth largest market research firm in the U.S. based upon 1998 revenues, according to the American Marketing Association's Honomichl 50. NPD has offices and affiliations in 36 countries, covering North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Europe, Asia and Australia. |
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