This aspect of digital inequality includes the extent to which households have computers, software, and connections that allow them to effectively engage with onlineĬontent. 13įirst, multidimensional approaches to digital inequality focus on variations in equipment, or the technology people use to access the Internet. This multidimensional approach draws attention to five key aspects of digital inequality, each of which shapes Internet use as well as returns to use. One key way in which digital inequality frameworks shifted was by focusing on the multiple dimensions of digital inequality, highlighting how access to, and the use of, digital technologies varies even among people with formal access to the Internet. 12 As a result, the concept of digital inequality has evolved in two key directions over recent years to focus on the complex ways in which digital access varies. 11Īlthough the presence or absence of Internet access remains an important dimension of digital inequality, the concept of a binary digital divide, which highlights absolute inequalities between the included and excluded, does not account for the fact that many technological inequalities are relative, continually shifting as new technologies emerge. families having Internet service at home around 2000 to nearly 3 in 4 by 2012 10 - additional relevant dimensions of digital inequality have emerged. 9 As digital penetration in the United States has increased, however - growing from 1 in 4 U.S. Studies rooted in this framework sought to identify gaps in access to the Internet and computers by income, geography, age, education, and other types of inequality, 8 both within and between countries. Early concerns about digital inclusion highlighted a “digital divide” between those who did and did not have access to new forms of information technology. These trends suggest that digital access will play an increasingly central role in socioeconomic inclusion.īuilding on the idea that digital inclusion is an important part of broader efforts to create strong, inclusive communities and improve opportunities and quality of life for all Americans, this article offers a series of frameworks, points of reference, and data for developing strategies to address current relationships between low-income housing and digital inequality.ĭominant approaches to thinking about and measuring digital inequality have evolved since the commercialization of the Internet in the mid-1990s. 4 Yet those who are most in need of social services are often least able to get online to access those services, 5 and low-income children - who are four times less likely to have access to broadband at home than their middle- and upper-income counterparts 6 - are particularly vulnerable to the long-term detrimental effects of constrained access to technology-enriched education. 3 Indeed, Internet access, and particularly broadband Internet access, has become an important tool for taking full advantage of opportunities in education, employment, health, social services, and the production and dissemination of knowledge and digital content. 2 At the same time, the negative consequences of being underconnected are growing, and researchers and policymakers are increasingly concerned that underconnection is fueling other socioeconomic disparities. 1 Disparate access to the Internet and digital devices corresponds closely with longstanding inequalities in income, education, race and ethnicity, age, immigration status, and geography (see “ Community Development and the Digital Divide"). Census Bureau, 3.Īs information, services, and resources increasingly move online, digital inequality has come to both reflect and contribute to other persistent forms of social inequality. “ Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2013,”American Community Survey Reports, U.S. Eighty percent of respondents to the 2015–2016 ConnectHome baseline survey who lacked Internet access at home cited Internet costs as one reason they lacked in-home Internet access, and 37 percent cited device costs. Low-income households are most likely to cite affordability constraints as a substantial barrier to in-home broadband adoption.Connectivity rates are particularly low among HUD-assisted renter households, who are also more likely to depend exclusively on smartphones and other handheld devices to access the Internet in the home. ![]() Low-income households have lower rates of in-home Internet connectivity compared with higher-income groups.Research on digital inequality has shifted toward frameworks that consider multiple dimensions and levels, including social supports and other neighborhood-level factors.Community Development and the Digital Divideĭigital Inequality and Low-Income Households
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