How Many Books Do Children Have at Home?

John Newport

The Ministry of Education, on the other hand, has used information from MICS to look at early childhood development and literacy.

John Newport, Ministry of Education

“When we began to look at the more qualitative aspects of the young child’s life and how they were learning, what their home life was like and how they were being nurtured and sustained with their families, it was clear that there was a lack of data.  As it happens about the same time, the 2015 MICS survey was published and for us that was a real treasure trove because the MICS being a household survey and being a large household survey, it was providing the kind of data that you don’t easily get from statistics which is just counting what people are doing.  So one example that springs to mind is that there is a question under the MICS survey about how many books young children have at home and that is telling us how many books children have at home and how many books which are appropriate for their age that children have at home.  It’s telling us a lot about the activities that families are doing with their young children.”