IP Democracy: Two Views on the Digital Divide Reach Same Conclusions

On The Commons blog has an excellent write-up of two recent reports, one European, one American, that document the digital divide. An EU report shows a digital divide based on age and education.

Only in Sweden (70%), Denmark (64%), Finland (54%) and Germany (51%) did more than half of the lower educated use the internet during the first quarter of 2004, while the proportion of the higher educated who used the internet fell below 50% only in Lithuania (38%) and Greece (48%). Only in the Netherlands did more than half of the retired use the internet.

A report by the Pew and Internet Life Project arrives at pretty much the same conclusions.

As of May-June 2005, 68% of American adults, or about 137 million people, use the internet, up from 63% one year ago. Thirty-two percent of American adults, or about 65 million people, do not use the internet and not always by choice. Certain groups continue to lag in their internet adoption, including Americans age 65 and older, African-Americans, and those with less education.

Neither of these reports shed any new light on the digital divide problem, and it’s a no-brainer that Internet use is tied to age and educational status (which in turn is tied to household income). But it’s good to keep checking in on any disparities regarding digital access as the Internet rapidly transforms into a full-fledged voice, video and data platform.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on November 17, 2005 10:25 AM to IP Democracy