W.P. Knulst

Trends in leisure reading, forty years of research on reading in the Netherlands

Abstract Recent international research describes a diminishing interest in leisure reading for almost all western countries. In this article, we have investigated trends in leisure reading of the Dutch population between 1955 and 1995, using data from seven national representative time budget surveys. First, our results show that the time spent on reading has diminished by about half. The strongest decline, especially for books, was found during the initial phase of television (1955–1975). More specifically, the long-term decline in reading can be attributed to a shrinking portion of the population that reads on a regular basis. Second, with regard to differences between social categories, we observed a steeper decline for men than for women. In 1995, as a consequence, women on average read more than men. Also, we found that reading is in retreat through cohort replacement. Among the post-war generations, each newly entering five-year cohort spent a lower percentage of leisure time on reading than its immediate predecessor. Third, four possible explanations for the observed downward trend in reading were examined. The combination of paid work and domestic tasks among the post-war generations, and the increasing diversity in leisure activities, explained part of the observed decline. Also, the expansion of the supply of reading material seemed to have harmed appreciation of printed media to a certain degree. Competition from television turned out to be the most evident cause of the decline in reading. In this respect, individuals socialized in a culture of reading and printed matter (born before 1950), exhibited the lowest degree of reading replacement with television. Among these older generations, the higher educated have held on longest to leisure reading. These observed differences in substitution imply that the remaining group of readers, currently consists primarily of higher educated persons from the pre-war cohorts.

Old Soldiers Never Die Explaining the Disproportionate Aging of Volunteers in The Netherlands between 1985 and 2000

In this article, two possible explanations for the disproportionate aging of volunteers are tested using the Dutch Time Budget Studies 1985–2000. The first explanation holds that increasing time pressure among, especially, couples aged between 25 and 55, keeps this group from participating. This could not be corroborated by the data, as voluntary work declined among all population segments observed, irrespective of their combined workload of paid and unpaid labour or their family situation (living alone or with a partner). The second explanation assumes that differences in socialization are responsible for the observed divergence between generations. This was confirmed for most fields of voluntary work. Both men and women tend to keep up their level of voluntary activity well into old age.

The readership of books in times of de-reading

Abstract The precipitous decline in book reading in the past 50 years has prompted a question previously considered inconceivable: who still reads books? While this question has to some degree been answered in prior research, this investigation focuses primarily on whether certain bookgenres have been abandoned more rapidly than others as opposed to the characteristics of the public which abandoned books or continued to read books. Dutch time-budget data allow us to depict the extent of “de-reading” over the 1975–2000 period. Since 1990, respondents have been asked about the genres of books they read; this has made possible an investigation of the relation between “de-reading” and type of books read over the 1990–2000 period. From the work of cultural critics (Postman and others), the hypothesis has been derived that more demanding books, i.e. literature, were likely to suffer most from the dominance of television entertainment formulas. Based on a threefold distinction between (1) literature and non-fiction, (2) adolescent books, comics and thrillers, and (3) romantic novels, however, this hypothesis was found to be lacking empirical support. In contrast, the decline in reading, occurring among the three reading publics, was most notable among readers of romantic novels.

Is television viewing substituting reading? Changes in media usage 1975–1985

Abstract Contrary to the basic assumptions of the homo sociologicus, institutional rules and role descriptions in a modern pluralistic society do not provide a blueprint for daily action. Individuals have to choose which of the rules or loyalties should prevail in a particular situation. In this article a choice theory is applied in order to explain changes in time spending on media. The early 1980s brought a lot of new facilities for tv-viewing. It was assumed that depending on their cultural competence and socialisation period people would react differently and would also switch from reading to tv-viewing at different rates. In combination with some competing theses this hypothesis is tested on data of the Netherlands time budget surveys of 1975, 1980 and 1985.

Roles, Rhythms and Routines : Towards a New Script of Daily Life in the Netherlands

Roles, rhythms and routines play an important part in daily life. Without some degree of fixed roles, rhythm and routinization, people would constantly be baffled by the numerous decisions they face. Roles, rhythms and routines make life predictable and allow us to concentrate on important matters. The fact that only certain events stand out as extraordinary underlines how unremarkably most daily pursuits go by. Familiar notions such as the evening and the weekend derive their meaning from the fact that those episodes possess a certain colour.

Qualitative criteria and cultural policy: An examination of the normative basis for government policy on art and the media in the Netherlands

Abstract The value of products of the mind such as information and creative expression cannot be objectively determined. Their quality is judged on the basis of normative considerations: qualitative standards. It is characteristic of value orientations in this field that nor one of them has full authority and that they thus compete with one another. Nevertheless, in its cultural policy the government does accord authority to certain qualitative standards and thereby endeavours to win the public for the quality of its choice. This article goes into the background of qualitative standards, their role in the formulation of media and art policy and discusses the question as to whether the government succeeds in increasing the authority of its ch osen qualitative standards amongst the public. Qualitative standards have been defined as justification formulae, on the basis of which producers or distributors justify the validity of their information or cultural products. Three distinctions are made in describing the situation in the Netherlands: professional or artistic, ideological and commercial qualitative standards. Dutch cultural policy is based on the first two: art policy on professional-artistic standards and media policy on ideological-qualitative standards, and moreover on the professional and ideological polarisation vis-a-vis market-oriented standards. The governments approach to the information and cultural market is based on differing and mutually conflicting principles. Media policy is based on the existence of dominant ideological currents amongst the public and is aimed at organising the supply not only of information but also of entertainment and culture according to these guide lines. Cultural care is not orientated on the varied nature of the public. It protects cultural products, which have emerged according to professional qualitative standards, and endeavours to stimulate the publics receptiveness. As far as the supply aspect is concerned, this policy still works well: there is an ideologically pluriform supply of information and there is an extensive amount of art on offer. As regards the consumption aspect, this policy is less satisfactory. The majority of the public is no longer guided by ideological criteria in its media consumption. Subsidies and distribution policy have not succeeded in making cultural products and the qualitative standards on which they are based into common property on a greater scale. This article gives a number of reasons for this failure. The conclusion is that at the present day qualitative standards are more controversial and more subject to the whims of fashion than in times past.