Reading books is the only out-of-school activity for 16-year-olds that is linked to getting a managerial or professional job in later life, according to study. Researchers asked more than 17,000 people born in 1970 about how they spent their downtime when they were 16 years old and their careers when they turned 33. The findings show that girls who had read books at 16 had a 39 percent probability of a professional or managerial post at 33, but only a 25 percent chance if they had not. For boys who read regularly, the figure went up from 48 percent to 58 percent. None of the other activities surveyed were found to have a significant effect on their careers.