The U.S. Department of Commerce just published the report: “Digital Nation: 21st Century America’s Progress Toward Universal Broadband Internet Access”.
The report confirms that at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, too many Americans still rely on slow, narrowband Internet access or do not use the Internet at all. “Despite the growing importance of the Internet in everyday life, over 30 percent of households and 35 percent of persons do not use the Internet at home, and 30 percent of all persons do not use the Internet at all”, said the report.
43,08% of Hispanics use a broadband (39.74%) or dial up connection (2.98%) at home, while 49.31% uses the internet either at home or anywhere. The percentage of Hispanics who do not have Internet access lies at 50.69% in comparison with a 25.68% ratio for White Non Hispanic.
The data also reveals that demographic disparities among groups have persisted over time. Persons with high income, who are younger, Asians and Whites, the more highly-educated, married couples, and the employed tend to have higher rates of broadband use at home. Conversely, persons with low incomes, seniors, minorities, the less-educated, non-family households, and the non-employed tend to lag behind other groups in home broadband use.
If we want to look at the positive side of the issue, the growing rate is our variable. In October 2009, according to the Census Current Population Survey data, 63.5 percent (75.8 million) of U.S. households used a high-speed Internet – “broadband” – service. This represented a 25 percent increase from just two years earlier (50.8 percent in October 2007).
However, virtually all demographic groups have increased their adoption of broadband services at home over time. This is particularly the case for the Hispanic population. According to a report on the US Hispanic internet market from comScore, the Hispanic online demographic is expanding more than 50% faster than the overall US online population. This figure narrows the disparities described in the U .S. Department of Commerce
Related Reports:
