Key Figures from the Impact Study 2025 (pdf)

The Finnish Reading Center’s book bags have been distributed at maternal and child health care clinics all across Finland since 2019. The book bags are distributed to families with babies in their first year of life, with the goal of increasing early reading in families with babies.

The outcomes of the bookgifting program have been analyzed with impact surveys. The impact survey conducted in spring 2025 had over a thousand (1,008) parent respondents of children between 0-5 years of age. Eighty-three percent of the respondents received a book bag from a maternal and child health care clinic, and 17% did not get a book bag at all.* The survey was carried out by Innolink. A separate survey for public health nurses had 215 respondents.

*N.B. Book bags were ordered for 93% of babies born between 2019- 2024 for distribution in maternal and child health care clinics. To enable comparison, a larger number of parents who did not receive a book bag participated in the study.

Impact surveys were also conducted in 2018 and 2021. This new survey provides information on the long-term effects of the book bag program on families’ reading habits.

Bookgifting and reading to babies influence reading habits among preschool-aged children

Of the parents who received a book bag, over 60% said that the book bag has had a positive impact on their family’s reading habits. Thanks to the book bag, twenty-six percent of respondents began reading aloud to their babies, and 37% of respondents said they have been reading more since getting a book bag. The impact of the book bag on families’ reading habits has thus remained on par with the results of the impact study conducted in 2021.

What kind of impact has the book gift had on your family’s reading habits?

We’ve been reading more often after receiving a book bag

The book bag has not affected the amount of time we spend reading

We began reading aloud thanks to the book bag

I don’t know

We’ve been reading less than usual

For the first time, an impact study was able to examine the long-term effects of the book gift program. According to the parents who responded to the survey, receiving a book bag when their child was a baby has had a positive impact on their child’s reading habits years later. Sixty-four percent of parents with three to four-year-olds felt that the book bag has a positive impact on reading habits: the time they spent reading with their babies is reflected in their child’s continued interest in books. More than half of the parents of five-year-olds feel this way.

What impact has the book bag your 3-5-year-old child received as a baby had on their current reading habits?

We read aloud to our baby, and they continue to be interested in books now

We read aloud to our baby, but we no longer read now

We didn’t read aloud to our baby, but they are interested in books now

We didn’t read aloud to our baby, and they aren’t very interested in books right now

I don’t know

Families who received book bags spend more time reading to their children

Many of those who received book bags read to their children for longer periods of time in a single sitting. Almost two-thirds of respondents usually read to their children for more than 15 minutes at a time, but less than half of other parents spend this much time reading with their children. Families typically read with their children for less than 20 minutes at a time; when the children are 3-5 years old, the reading time is slightly longer.

How long is a single reading session? (Families who received a book bag / Families who didn’t receive a book bag)

5-10 minutes

15-20 minutes

Half an hour or more

As long as our child wants

The book bag also influences how often families read to their children. Of those who received a book bag, 91% of respondents said they read to their children several times a week, while only 83% of the other respondents said they did. Of those who received a book bag, only 8% read just once a week to their children, and among other respondents it’s 16%. Almost two-thirds of all respondents said they read at least once a day to their children. Among those who received a book bag, there are more parents who read several times a day and fewer parents who read less than that.

Only 1% of respondents indicated they don’t read to their children at all, and 3% read to their children less than once a week. The most cited reason for not reading is the lack of time. The majority of parents who read the least to their children would like to read more: 83% feel they spend too little time reading aloud to their children. 44% of all respondents feel this way.

According to the respondents’ estimates, the amount of time spent reading and how it’s done is influenced the most by the information on the benefits of reading (43% of respondents) and the importance of reading (41% of respondents) shared at the maternal and child health care clinics. It’s noteworthy that the parents who received a book bag are the ones who more often say that the maternal and child health care clinics have affected their reading habits (44% of respondents), while for other parents other sources of information and, for example, their own experiences with reading, have a greater impact than the information received at a maternal and child health care clinic (28%).

Families have greater awareness of the benefits of early reading

According to the survey, families are better informed about the benefits of early reading. In the open-ended responses, parents who received book bags indicated they are well aware of the diverse effects of reading. The respondents who didn’t receive a book bag mainly see the benefits of reading as supporting speech development and learning.

Of the choices provided, all respondents indicated that the most important benefits of reading are increased vocabulary (76%), improved interaction (57%) and improved empathy and social-emotional skills (54%). Those who received a book bag are better at recognizing the impact of reading on empathy and social-emotional skill development (no book bag 43% vs. 56% with a book bag.) It can therefore be concluded that receiving a book bag has diversified their knowledge of the impacts of reading and strengthened their motivation to read to their children.

What do you think are the most important benefits of reading to children in general? Pick 1-3 answers.

Increased vocabulary

Reading together supports family interaction and strengthens the relationship between parent and child

Improved empathy and social-emotional skills

Reading aloud supports learning and makes starting school easier

Reading becomes a habit, and my child likes books and reading also after they’ve learned to read themselves

The number of parents who support early reading has increased since 2021 as a result of the book bag program while the number of parents who support starting to read to their children at a later age has decreased. Thirty percent of the parents in the 2025 impact survey think it is important to start reading as soon as their child is born, and 34% think it is important to start reading with their child by the time they are six months olds. In 2021, there were clearly more respondents who were in favor of starting to read with their babies when they were more than a year old.

At what age do you think you should start reading to your child?

At birth

When they are six months old

When they are a year old

When they are two years old

When they are three years old

Only once they have learned to talk

Parents and caregivers should start reading aloud to their babies as soon as possible since linguistic development accelerates during the first year of life, and reading out loud, including rhyming books, support this development in a variety of ways. We recommend distributing book bags to families at the maternal and child health care clinics as soon as possible during the baby’s first year of life.

Families are reading the books in the book bag more frequently than before

In recent years families have been reading the books in the book bag program even more frequently than before. In 2021, 21% of parents with children under the age of three had read the books more than 20 times; in 2025, 33% of parents (both parents with children under the age of three and all respondents) had read the books this many times. Two-thirds of those who received a book bag have read the books more than 10 times. It’s most common to read at bedtime, and the bedtime story collection, along with the rhyming book, are the books read most frequently.

We’ve read the books in the book bag

More than 20 times

10-19 times

4-9 times

1-3 times

Not once

Not at all

Eight percent of all respondents have no more than five books at home, so for some families these books may be the children’s only books at home. 64% of respondents indicated they borrow books from the library, but 18% of families haven’t been to the library with their children at all. Not visiting the library was more common among the other respondents (22%) than it was among those who received a book bag (17%). The material included with the book bags encourages families to borrow books from the library and provides information on reading at different ages.

Public health nurses believe it is important to talk about reading at maternal and child health care clinics

Professionals working in maternal and child health care clinics feel it is important to address reading at the clinics. Ninety-nine percent of public health nurses who responded to the survey think it is important to discuss the importance of reading with families at their clinics. Ninety-six percent said they always remind families of the importance of reading.

I believe it is important to talk to parents about the importance of reading at maternal and child health care clinics.

Yes

No

I don’t know

The importance of early reading is also recognized in maternal and child health care clinics. 78% of public health nurses talk to families about reading aloud during the child’s first year of life, and 13% even stress reading aloud before the child is born. Public health nurses usually continue to talk about reading during subsequent visits at the clinic.

All maternal and child health care clinic professionals who responded to the survey want to continue distributing the book bags, and the book bags received a grade of nine out of ten from the survey respondents. The results of the survey conducted with the maternal and child health care clinic professionals have been published in full in a separate article (in Finnish).

“With books as a gift, it’s easy and fun to bring up reading and talk about how families can incorporate it into their daily lives and make it a part of their routine. Most families are really happy about the book bags.” – public health nurse

“Parents have been really happy about the book bags. It incentivizes them to go to the library and serves as a reminder of the importance of reading for children and adults.” – public health nurse

“We take book bags with us for our first home visits and encourage reading from the very beginning. The book bag is a wonderful and well-liked gift for babies, and we hope we will be able to distribute them in the future as well.” – public health nurse