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Digital Divide

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Digital Divide

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short readsJun 22, 2021

Digital divide persists even as Americans with lower incomes make gains in tech adoption

The shares of Americans in each income tier who have home broadband or a smartphone have not significantly changed from 2019 to 2021.
short readsJun 3, 2021

34% of lower-income home broadband users have had trouble paying for their service amid COVID-19

Some 15% of all home broadband users in the U.S. say they have had trouble paying for their high-speed internet service during the pandemic.
short readsApr 2, 2021

7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

Today, 25% of adults ages 65 and older report never going online, compared with much smaller shares of adults under the age of 65.
presentationNov 13, 2020

American life in the midst of crisis: How people are using technology as their lives are upended

Lee Rainie, director of internet and technology research at the Pew Research Center, presented this material on October 14, 2020 at a gathering sponsored by the International Institute of Communications. He described the most recent Center public opinion surveys since mid-March, covering the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, racial justice protests that began in the summer, and the final stages of the 2020 presidential election campaign.
short readsSep 10, 2020

59% of U.S. parents with lower incomes say their child may face digital obstacles in schoolwork

38% of parents with children whose K-12 schools closed in the spring said that their child was likely to face digital obstacles in schoolwork.
reportJul 28, 2020

Parenting Children in the Age of Screens

Two-thirds of parents in the U.S. say parenting is harder today than it was 20 years ago, with many citing technologies – like social media or smartphones – as a reason.
reportApr 30, 2020

53% of Americans Say the Internet Has Been Essential During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Americans with lower incomes are particularly likely to have concerns related to the digital divide and the digital “homework gap.”
short readsApr 2, 2020

8 charts on internet use around the world as countries grapple with COVID-19

A median of 77% across 34 countries surveyed use the internet at least occasionally or own an internet-enabled smartphone.
short readsMar 31, 2020

Americans turn to technology during COVID-19 outbreak, say an outage would be a problem

A majority of Americans are turning to digital means to stay connected and track information about the coronavirus outbreak.
short readsMar 20, 2020

Before the coronavirus, telework was an optional benefit, mostly for the affluent few

COVID-19 may yet do what years of advocacy have failed to: Make telework a benefit available to more than a relative handful of U.S. workers.