New study finds 7% of all Americans are living internet-free

[samhexum]

Internet explorers they are not.

 

A new study has found that 7 percent of American adults do not go online at all — for a variety of reasons including old age, remote living, and poverty.

 

The Pew Research Center finding is down from 15 percent in 2015 and 48 percent in 2000.

However, that number remains stubbornly high among people age 65 and older, 25 percent of whom say they don’t log on. By comparison, just 4 percent of Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 say they don’t use the internet, down from 12 percent in 2019.

 

The difference in internet use is similarly stark when graded by educational attainment.

 

While 14 percent of Americans with a high school education or lower don’t use the internet, the share quickly drops to 3 percent among Americans with some college education and 2 percent with a college degree or higher.

 

25 percent of citizens 65 and older do not use the internet, according to the study.

 

Pew also defines household income as an indicator of connectivity, with 14 percent of adults living in households earning less than $30,000 per year reporting never using the internet.

 

Among households making $30,000 to $49,999 per year, the percentage of non-internet users drops to 9 percent and plummets to 2 percent of adults in households making $50,000 to $74,999 per year.

 

Only four percent of Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 say they don’t use the internet.

 

The study also found “no statistically significant differences in non-internet use by gender, race and ethnicity, or community type.”

 

Just 5 percent of Hispanic adults and 9 percent of black adults report they never use the internet, down from 14 percent and 15 percent, respectively, in 2019.

 

Similarly, the study found that 10 percent of adults in rural areas never use the internet, compared to 6 percent of suburban adults and 5 percent of urban adults — while slightly more women (7%) than men (6%) say they never go online.

[Kevin Slater]

Odd thing is, the poll was done by email.

 

Kevin Slater