Children and young people are spending less time in front of screens, according to a new report. The decrease is most pronounced in younger age groups, where reading has taken up more space.
The report “Kids & Media 2025” examines Swedish children and young people’s media usage and their attitudes toward media. The study is based on a national survey among children and young people up to 18 years old and represents the most comprehensive statistical study in this field.
The results show that the use of mobile phones, tablets and computer games is decreasing among young people in most age groups. The clearest decline is found in the 9-12 age group, where daily use of digital devices decreased by 38 minutes per day in 2024 compared to 2022. A decrease of 21 minutes during the same period is also seen among 13-16-year-olds.
Furthermore, the proportion of nine-year-olds who do not have access to their own mobile phone has almost quadrupled since 2022. A similar development is also seen among younger children.
Increased concern among parents
Yvonne Andersson, author of the report, believes the decrease is due to parents becoming more restrictive because of increased concern about the harm that screen time can contribute to.
— Many parents express increased concern about the negative consequences of media use, she tells Swedish public broadcaster SVT.
More read daily
The report also shows that more children up to eight years old read daily. Among children aged 9-12, 39 percent read every day. According to Andersson, more children read books or newspapers daily today than when the surveys began in 2012.
— One can imagine this is a positive consequence of them spending less time on digital media, and therefore having more time for reading.