References of US data

Revised Text on Chapter 9, “The Digital Divide in a Global Perspective” in the Internet Galaxy, P. 248-252

Dimensions of the Digital Divide

The digital divide means the inequality of access to the Internet. I think it is necessary to overcome inequality in a society because its main functions and groups organized around the Internet.

Digital Divide with US data
According to the survey conducted by the US Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in August 2000, 41.5% of households and 44.4% of individuals in the US had access to the Internet. In the following, I will further describe the proportion of people who had Internet access of with respect to their personal details, for example, their age, income and education level, occupation etc.

Survey done by NTIA (2000)
Income group
% of people who had access to Internet

Earning $75,000

70.1%

Earning between $25,000 and $34,999

25.3%

Earning between $15,000 and $24,999

18.4%

Earning less than $15,000

18.9%











Education level

% of people with access to the Internet
People with a bachelor’s degree
Or higher

74.5%


High- School graduates

30.6%

Not having graduated from
High-school

21.7%




Age group
% of people with access to the Internet

9-17
53.4%
18-24
56.8%
25-49
55.4%
Over 50

29.6%


Occupation
% of people with access to the Internet
Labor force
29%
Employed individuals
56.7%


Race
% of people with access to the Internet
White
50.3%
Asian-Americans
49.4%
African-Americans
29.3%
Hispanics
23.7%




Gender
% of people with access to the Internet
Men
44.6%
Women
44.2%


Family status
% of households with access to the Internet

Non-family households
(Single or unmarried)

28.1%


Family households
(Married couples with children)


60.6%


Female-headed households
(With children)

30%




According to a special survey by NTIA (1999)
Level of Disability
% of people with NO access to the Internet
Without disability
43.3%
People with some disability
71.6%
People with vision problems
78.9%
People with walking problems

81.5%










Analysis of these US data
Concerning the above information, obviously money income matters the digital divide the most. For instance, the income level also affects the disparity of the disabled and others. (E.g. when income level and age↑, the difference between those with and without disability↓)
Therefore, there was a significant digital divide from children of different income groups. Moreover, this could have important and long-term effects to the future.


A study from the Packard Foundation in 2001 (Reported by Lewin)
Rate of diffusion of the Internet among American children

Year % of American Households (with children aged 2-17)
had a computer at home

1996 less than 50%
(Only 15% of them had Internet access)


2000 70%
(52% of them had Internet access)



The number of children of having access to Internet was growing extremely fast from 1996-2000. In 2000, 20% of children (aged 8-16) had their own computers at their bedrooms and 11% of them had access to the Internet from that location as well.

As we can read from the figures, the digital divide seems to a bit narrower in recent years, but it is clear that many low-income groups still suffer from digital divide. In 2000, 91% of households with incomes over $75, 000/ year had computers whereas only 22% of family income less than $20,000 had computers. Also, low income households were less likely to have Internet access even when they had computers.




Besides the money income factor, relationship of individuals to work determines the chance of having access to Internet. This is because the importance of Internet has been growing, as it becomes essential professional tool.

Therefore, other sources of differential access seem to be diminishing. Rural households are catching up by increasing their Internet access by 75% shortly in 20 months. The proportion of single-parent households with Internet access is also increasing.

Although the gap in Internet access is closing, the ethnic gap is widening. The diffusion rates of African- Americans and Hispanics increase from 19 to 29.3% and 16.6 to 23.7% respectively. What’s more, the divide between African-American household and white households increased in 4% from 1998 to 2000 and the gap between white and Hispanic households increased. As a result, racial inequality remains to be the obvious mark of America and in the age of the Internet.