Poetry is the UK’s new force for change

October 4, 2018

New research finds that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to engage in poetry

A new National Literacy Trust report, A Thing That Makes Me Happy: Young People and Poetry 2018, published today, 4th October 2018, reveals that almost half of the 2,948 young people surveyed (46% or 1,537) said they turn to poetry in their free time in one or more different ways: as listeners, performers, readers or writers.

The report also shows that students on free school meals, a leading indicator of deprivation, are more drawn to poetry in their free time than their richer peers (55.7% as opposed to 43.0%). Read the full report, and find out more about how poetry is a force for change.