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Falling through the net: defining the digital divide, July
1999
This report
on the telecommunications and information technology gap in
America provides comprehensive data on the level of access
by Americans to telephones, computers, and the Internet. It
includes valuable information about where Americans are gaining
access and about what they are doing with their online connections.
The report also provides trendline information since 1984.
According to the report, the number of Americans accessing
the Internet has grown rapidly in the last year; yet, in the
midst of this general expansion, the "digital divide"
between information "haves" and "have nots"
still continues to widen.
Part 1 Americans using Internet for many tasks
The use of the Internet has soared in recent years. As entrepreneurs
put more time and money into Internet applications, Americans
are also using the Internet for an increasing number of tasks.
E-mail remains the killer application, used by nearly 80%
of those with home Internet access. Searching for information
and checking news are the other most common home Internet
tasks.
Highlights:
， Of those accessing the Internet at home, 77.9% use it to
e-mail; of that group, 93.6% use E-mail to communicate with
family and friends.
， A majority of home users (59.8%) use the Internet for information
searches.
， Over half of unemployed persons (53.9%) using the Internet
at home are searching for jobs online. Outside the home, the
same group is three times more likely to do an Internet job
search than the national average (29.8% vs. 8.5%).
， Pursuing online courses and school research is equally popular
inside and outside the home (36.1% and 38.8%, respectively).
， Outside the home, more than 65% of those making under $25,000
use e-mail to communicate with family and friends; that rate
drops at higher incomes.
， Using the Internet at home for "job-related tasks"
is far more common for those making above $25,000.
Significant Findings:
As more and more Americans log onto the Internet, they are
using it for a variety of tasks, from searching for information
to job searches to academic support. In fact, various demographic
groups are finding uses of the Internet to best meet their
needs -- the unemployed are searching for jobs, and the less
educated are taking courses online. On average, however, certain
groups still cannot access the Internet and are thus unable
to benefit from the Internet's growing list of uses.
Part 2 Education: Boosting the
Odds for Internet Use
The level of education plays a key role in determining a person
or household's likelihood of owning a computer or using the
Internet. Those with college degrees are highly likely to have
Internet access from home or work. Meanwhile, the divide in
Internet access between the most and least educated widened
between 1997 and 1998. The divide is most pronounced in rural
areas, where those who are less educated are even less likely
to connect to the Internet from home.
Highlights:
， 61.6% of those with college degrees now use the Internet,
while only 6.6% of those with an elementary school education
or less use the Internet.
， At home, those with a college degree or higher are over eight
times more likely to have a computer than the least educated
and are nearly sixteen times more likely to have home Internet
access.
， The "digital divide" for Internet use between those
at highest and lowest education levels widened by 25% from 1997
to 1998.
， In rural areas, those with college degrees are over eleven
times more likely to have a home computer and twenty-six
times more likely to have home Internet access than those
with an elementary school education.
， Those with college degrees or higher are ten times
more likely to have Internet access at work than persons with
only some high school education.
Significant Findings:
Though the Internet is consistently touted as the newest educational
tool with the potential to narrow demographic disparities, the
data show that only those who have already attained educational
success are using the Internet in large numbers. Consequently,
Americans with less education, who could perhaps benefit most
from the Internet's educational value, are being left behind.
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