The Pew Research Center recently released a report that looked at 15 years of data collected to study internet adoption by Americans.
In the report, Pew explores some of the major demographic trends behind the adoption numbers and highlights:
- Age differences: Older adults have lagged behind younger adults in their adoption, but now a clear majority (58%) of senior citizens uses the internet.
- Class differences: Those with college educations are more likely than those who do not have high school diplomas to use the internet. Similarly, those who live in households earning more than $75,000 are more likely to be internet users than those living in households earning less than $30,000. Still, the class-related gaps have shrunk dramatically in 15 years as the most pronounced growth has come among those in lower-income households and those with lower levels of educational attainment.
- Racial and ethnic differences: African-Americans and Hispanics have been somewhat less likely than whites or English-speaking Asian-Americans to be internet users, but the gaps have narrowed. Today, 78% of blacks and 81% of Hispanics use the internet, compared with 85% of whites and 97% of English-speaking Asian Americans.
- Community differences: Those who live in rural areas are less likely than those in the suburbs and urban areas to use the internet. Still, 78% of rural residents are online.
You should read the report [or download the 13-page pdf].
Can lessons learned south of the border be extrapolated to Canada?
With reductions in data collection by Statistics Canada, are policy makers at the CRTC or Industry Canada concerned about access to similar information for Canadians?