Reading is increasingly feminine: read 71% of women and 59% of men between 14 and 75 years. This is confirmed by the survey presented today, on the day dedicated to women and at the opening of Tempo di Libri, the international publishing fair scheduled from today until 12 March at fieramilanocity in Milan. A research on the role of women with respect to reading, writing, roles occupied in the publishing chain, starting from the Observatory of the Italian Publishers' Association (AIE) on publishing consumption, carried out in collaboration with Pepe Research.
A new confirmation, in the sign of reading: women read more than men. On average 8 between books, e-books and audiobooks in a year, compared to 6,9 for men. They prefer books (69% of responses versus 56% of men) over ebooks (26% of responses versus 29% of men) and audiobooks (10% of women versus 12% of men). To the point that 62% of women indicate only the paper book as their preferred support.
They read more across all age groups: 18% of women and 24% of men read between 91-81 year olds. The differences widen to values close to 20 points of difference between the 45-54 year olds where 84% of women who claim to have read (books, ebooks, audiobooks) correspond to 67% of males and between 65-74 years with 44% of female readers and 26% of readers. The only age group in which boys read more is between 15-17 years: they are 89% against 85% of girls.
The preferred shopping places? Bookshops, even if they choose them less than men. They prefer the loan and the gift: Bookstores are chosen by 75% of women and 77% of men. Online stores are preferred by 28% of women and 31% of men. Women prefer the gift or loan of books (this is the case in 46% of women's answers and in 39% of men). Large-scale retail trade conquers 72% of women and 44% of men. 59% of women choose it compared to 33% of men for the convenience of browsing the book counter and for convenience.
But that is not all. From reading to writing, the step can be short: in fact, the percentage of female writers in Italy is also growing, even if the number of authors remains decidedly higher: in 2017 about 4 authors out of ten were women, with a growing trend. To be precise, female authors are 38,3% of the total, while in 2005 they were 29,7%, an increase of around 9 points which strengthens their positions in the publishing chain.
Finally, the presence of women is also growing in managerial roles in publishing: there are also more and more women holding positions of responsibility (CEO, presidents, general managers, etc.) in the publishing production chain (even if the figure is conditioned by the greater presence of women in small and medium-small publishing houses which represent a an important part of our entrepreneurial fabric): they represent 22,3% of managerial roles, a percentage that stopped at 2010% in 16,6.
"The number of women who hold important roles in the publishing world, and in its managerial roles, is higher than the national average which stands at a modest 4% - said the president of the Italian Publishers Association Ricardo Franco Levi -. To these are added those that we find – at various levels – in bookstores or libraries and throughout the publishing chain: translators, graphic designers, communication managers. In entry positions – those who attend the various masters – there is also a higher percentage of girls, whose weight will end up being projected into future organization charts in the coming years. We see the same in writing. Just as we have seen it, since the XNUMXs, in reading”.
“It was in those years – added Levi – that we witnessed the historic overtaking: more girls and women enter the educational processes of compulsory schooling, then university and then work. And more girls, girls, women approach books and enter the library. I read these data as confirmation: the close relationship between the social growth of individuals - women in this case - reading books, ebooks, greater cultural consumption and the possibility of making better use of social elevators. As a country where innovation becomes a central quality to compete on domestic and international markets, the fact that reading is "female" is a fact that opens up hope. And it should make my male colleagues think about it”.
