Internet and Disability in the USA
Inequality and the Internet: Why Some Remain Offline
Published: August 22, 2013
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Your otherwise excellent article about the digital divide (“Most of U.S. Is Wired, but Millions Aren’t Plugged In,” Business Day, Aug. 19) missed an opportunity to discuss the significant digital divide between people with disabilities and those not (yet) disabled.
Older women remain least likely group to get online
Older women remain least likely group to get online
Source : Laura Grigg \ Age UK
Older women are the least likely group in society to use the internet, despite potentially having the most to gain from it, new statistics from the ONS reveal.
Nearly three quarters (73%) of women aged 75 and over, or two million people, have never been online despite it offering them advantages including being able to keep in touch with friends and family more easily.
Older men, whilst not as likely to be online as their younger counterparts, are more likely to use the internet than older women, with 59%, or 1.2 million, having never used the internet.
Separately it is also estimated that 46% of women in the same age group admit to feeling lonely– something which could potentially be addressed by using technology.
For example, new research shows that older people who are offline are twice as likely to say they are lonely compared to those who are online.
Despite these benefits, many older people are not aware of how the internet could improve their lives.
Government should do more to get ‘marginalised’ older people online
Age UK has said the number of old people who feel isolated would be reduced if more of them were online.
The charity cited a study showing that older people who know how to use the internet are nearly three times less likely to say they are lonely than those who do not.
Despite this, figures from the ONS released this month show that almost three quarters of women aged 75 and over – two million people – have never been online.
