Increasingly, we are a nation online. Individuals continue to expand their use of computers and the Internet. As of September 2001, 174 million people or 65.6 percent of the U.S. population were computer users. One hundred forty three million people or 53.9 percent of the population used the Internet (Tables 2-1 and 2-2 and Figure 2-1).
Figure 2-1: Internet Use From Any Location, Percent of Persons Age 3 +
Computer
Use 1997, 2001
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Internet
Use 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
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Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
Both computer and Internet use have increased substantially in the past few years. Since 1997 computer use has grown at a rate of 5.3 percent on an annualized basis.[1] Internet use has grown at a rate of 20 percent a year since 1998. In the 13 months before September 2001, over 26 million more people went online.
The demographic profile of computer and Internet users provided in this chapter reveals that growth in computer and Internet use is broadly based. In every income bracket, at every level of education, in every age group, for people of every race and among people of Hispanic origin, among both men and women, many more people use computers and the Internet now than did so in the recent past. Some people are still more likely to be Internet users than others. Individuals living in low-income households or having little education, still trail the national average. However, broad measures of Internet use in the United States suggest that over time Internet use has become more equitable (See Chapter 9).
Demographic Factors in Computer and Internet Use
Family income remains an indicator of whether a person uses a computer or the Internet. Individuals who live in high-income households are more likely to be computer and Internet users than those who live in low-income households. This relationship has held true in each successive survey of computer and Internet use.[2]
Nonetheless, both computer and Internet use have increased steadily across all income categories over time (Figure 2-2). While notable differences remain in Internet use across income categories, Internet use has grown considerably among people who live in lower income households. Among people living in the lowest income households (less than $15,000 annually), Internet use had increased from 9.2 percent in October 1997 to 25.0 percent in September 2001.
Figure 2-2: Computer and Internet Use
From Any Location by Family Income,
Persons Age 3 +
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Computer Use 1997, 2001 |
Internet Use 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 |
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Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
Internet use is growing faster among people in lower family income brackets (Figure 2-3, Table 2-3). Internet use among people who live in households where family income is less than $15,000 grew at an annual rate of 25 percent between December 1998 and September 2001. Over the same period Internet use grew at an annual rate of 11 percent among people living in households where family income was $75,000 or more.
Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
Not only did the Internet use rate grow faster for those living in lower income households, but growth also accelerated between August 2000 and September 2001 relative to December 1998 to August 2000. For people living in households in the two lowest income brackets, the Internet use rate grew faster between August 2000 and September 2001 than between December 1998 and August 2000. This acceleration in the growth of Internet use did not occur among people living in higher income households (Table 2-3).
Both the employed and the not employed (either unemployed or not in the labor force) saw growth in computer and Internet use rates since 1997 (Figure 2-4).
People who are employed are more likely to be both computer and Internet users. In 2001, 73.2 percent of employed people (age 16 and older) were computer users and 65.4 percent were Internet users. In contrast, only 40.8 percent of people who were not employed were computer users and 36.9 were Internet users.
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Computer Use 1997, 2001 |
Internet Use 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 |
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Increases in computer and Internet use have occurred across the entire age distribution. Since December 1997, the entire age distribution has shifted upward with each new survey.
Computer and Internet use are strongly associated with the age of the individual. As Figure 2-5 shows, children and teenagers were the most likely to be computer users. Computer use is also relatively high—about 70 percent in 2001—among people in their prime workforce years (generally people in their 20s to their 50s). Those above this age range are less likely to be computer users. This pattern is consistent in both 1997 and 2001.
Rates of Internet use show a similar pattern that holds true for each year of data. Internet use rates climb steadily as age increases for children through young adults, level off at relatively high rates for people between ages 26 and 55, and then fall among people at higher ages.
Figure 2-5: Computer and Internet Use at Any Location Age Distribution (3 year moving average),
Percent of Persons Age 3 to 80
Computer
Use 1997, 2001
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Internet
Use 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
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Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
One would expect to see the current plateau for Internet use among those age 25 to 55 extend to older ages over time because the overall upward shift in the age distribution shown in Figure 2-5 is composed of two components. The first is an absolute increase in Internet use by people and the second is a cohort effect. The cohort effect describes the fact that the people who are in the 55-year-old age cohort in September 2001 are not the same people who were in this age group in earlier surveys. The 55 year olds of September 2001 were mostly 51 year olds when Census first asked about Internet use in October 1997. People who used the Internet when they were younger will likely continue to do so as they age.
Males and females have had approximately equal rates of computer use since 1997. In 1997, males were more likely than females to be Internet users. Between October 1997 and August 2000, this difference disappeared. Since August 2000, males and females have had virtually identical rates of Internet use (Figure 2-6). In September 2001, the Internet use rate was 53.9 percent for males and 53.8 percent for females.
The annual growth rates from August 2000 to September 2001 were similar: 19 percent growth at an annual rate for males and 20 percent for females (Table 2-3).
Figure 2-6: Computer and Internet Use Anywhere by Gender, Percent of Persons Age 3+
Computer
Use 1997, 2001
|
Internet
Use 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
|
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Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
Although the aggregate rates of use and growth by gender have equalized, there are still gender-related differences in Internet use within various age groups (Figure 2-7). Women, from approximately age 20 to age 50, are more likely to be Internet users than men. From about age 60 and older, men have higher rates of Internet use than women.
Figure 2-7: Computer and Internet Use Distribution by Age & Gender, Sept. 2001, Percent of Persons Age 3 to 80
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Computer Use |
Internet Use |
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Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
Gender can also be considered in the context of household type.[3] In previous years people who lived in single parent households (where children under the age of 18 are present) headed by women were less likely to be Internet users. The Internet use rate among people living in female-headed single parent households grew dramatically between August 2000 and September 2001, and the differential between Internet use rates between people living in male and female single parent households has largely disappeared.
However, as Figure 2-8 shows, people who live in households headed by married couples (where children under the age of 18 are present) are more likely than people who live in other household types to be both computer and Internet users.
Figure 2-8: Computer and Internet Use Anywhere by Type of Household, Persons Age 3 +
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Computer Use, 1997, 2001 |
Internet Use, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 |
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Educational attainment also factors into computer and Internet use. The higher a person’s level of education, the more likely he or she will be a computer or Internet user.
As shown in Figure 2-9, adults (age 25 and above) with education beyond college were the most likely to be both computer and Internet users each year of the survey.[4] Those with Bachelor’s degrees trailed close behind. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those adults whose highest level of education is less than high school. In September 2001, the computer use rate for the latter was 17.0 percent and the Internet use rate was 12.8.
Internet use has grown rapidly among those with lower levels of educational attainment. Internet use for adults with a Bachelor’s degree and adults with and education level beyond a Bachelor’s degree grew at annual rates of 13 and 9 percent, respectively from December 1998 to September 2001. Internet use among those with only a high school diploma grew at an annual rate of 30 percent over the same period (Table 2-3).
Figure 2-9: Internet Use Anywhere by Educational Attainment, Percent of Persons Age 25 +
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Computer Use, 1997, 2001 |
Internet Use, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 |
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Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
Box 2-1: Interrelated Demographic Factors
Descriptive statistics, such as those in this chapter, are not sufficient to determine why a certain group of individuals has higher or lower rates of computer and Internet use. One of the reasons is that demographic characteristics are often interrelated.
An individual’s occupation (which is discussed in Chapter 6) is often associated with a certain level of education. People with higher incomes often have higher levels of education. Thus, the statistics describing how people living in low income households, or who have low levels of education, or a given occupation are less likely to be Internet users may be capturing a more complicated interaction between the demographic characteristics. For example, income and education are strongly correlated. Thus, the relationship between Internet use and educational attainment could simply reflect the fact that people with higher levels of education tend to have higher incomes.
On closer examination, however, we find that income and education have independent effects on Internet use. Figure 2-10 shows the Internet use rates for each of six income categories broken into four levels of educational attainment. Thus, the entire population 25 years of age or more is assigned to one of 24 income/education categories. As Figure 2-10 shows, people who have lower levels of education but live in households with a high family incomes are less likely to be Internet users than those who have high levels of education and live in households with low family income.
Figure 2-10: Income and Education Have In dependent Effects on Internet Use, Age 25+
Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
Both higher income and more education are themselves correlated with occupations that tend to have greater Internet use at work. As Chapter 6 demonstrates, a person’s use at work has an important relationship to whether the Internet is at home, independent of income.
Urban or Rural Location of the Household
In September 2001, people living in each urban/rural category—non-central city urban, central city urban, and rural—had higher rates of Internet use than in previous years[5] (Figure 2-11).
Figure 2-11: Internet Use Anywhere by Geographic Location of Household, Percent of Persons Age 3+
Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
Over the 1998 to 2001 period, growth in Internet use among people living in rural households has been particularly strong (24 percent at an average annual rate). Use of the Internet by people in rural households now approaches the national average (Table 2-3). Internet use among people living in central city urban households has also grown, although not as rapidly (19 percent at an average annual rate). Internet use among people who live in non-central city urban households has grown at a slightly slower rate (18 percent at an average annual rate). Even with the slowest growth rate, however, people living in non-central city urban households used the Internet at a rate greater than the other two geographic categories in September 2001.
Since 1997, rates of computer and Internet use by individuals have increased for each broad race/Hispanic origin category.[6]
Differences in computer and Internet use across these broad race and Hispanic origin categories persist. In each survey, Whites and Asian American and Pacific Islanders have had higher rates of both computer and Internet use than Blacks and Hispanics[7] (Figure 2-12, Table 2-2). In September 2001, the computer use rates were highest for Asian American and Pacific Islanders (71.2 percent) and Whites (70.0 percent). Among Blacks, 55.7 percent were computer users. Almost half of Hispanics (48.8 percent) were computer users. During the same year, Internet use among Whites and Asian American and Pacific Islanders hovered around 60 percent, while Internet use rates for Blacks (39.8 percent) and Hispanics (31.6 percent) trailed behind.
On the other hand, Internet use has increased across all race and groups and growth in Internet use rates was faster for Blacks and Hispanics than for Whites and Asian American and Pacific Islanders (Table 2-3). From December 1998 to September 2001, Internet use among Blacks grew at an annual rate of 31 percent. Internet use among Hispanics grew at an annual rate of 26 percent. Internet use continued to grow among Asian American and Pacific Islanders (21 percent), and Whites (19 percent), although not so rapidly as for Blacks and Hispanics. Although not so dramatic, Blacks and Hispanics also have had somewhat faster growth in computer use than Whites and Asian American and Pacific Islanders (Table 2-1).
Growth in Internet use rates for Blacks and Hispanics also accelerated in the 2000 to 2001 period. Between August 2000 and September 2001, growth in Hispanic Internet use increased to 30 percent from the 24 percent annual rate of growth from December 1998 to August 2000. Growth in Internet use among Blacks increased to a 33 percent annual rate between August 2000 and September 2001, from the 30 percent annual rate of growth between December 1998 and August 2000. Growth rates among Whites and Asian American and Pacific Islanders were comparable during both periods.
Figure 2-12: Internet Use Anywhere by Race/Hispanic Origin, Percent of Persons Age 3 +
Computer
Use 1997, 2001
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Internet
Use 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
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Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements
The race and ethnic origin categories used in this analysis are broad aggregations of what can be very disparate sub-groups. Individual sub-groups may have higher or lower levels of Internet use than the aggregate. Box 2-2 provides an example of a sub-group of the Hispanic population (those not speaking English in the home) that has much lower levels of Internet use than the aggregate Hispanic population. It is likely that each broad category has sub-groups with rates of computer and Internet use that differ dramatically from the aggregate.
Box 2-2: Example of Differential Internet Use in a Race/Hispanic Origin Sub-Group
Internet use among Hispanics differs considerably depending on whether Spanish is the only language spoken in the household, which is the case for about one in nine of Hispanic households.[8] In September 2001, 14.1 percent of Hispanics who lived in households where Spanish was the only language spoken used the Internet. In contrast, 37.6 percent of Hispanics who lived in households where Spanish was not the only language spoken used the Internet.
The forces influencing Internet use for these two sub-groups of the Hispanic category are not necessarily clear-cut. One could point to metrics that suggest a predominance of English language sites on the Internet. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, for example, reports that more than 94 percent of links to pages on secure servers were in English in July 2000.[9] Yet, this metric reflects only one use of the Internet—commerce—and provides no information on how much of other Internet traffic (e-mail and other online communications) is English only.
Furthermore, there can be considerable demographic differences among sub-groups. For example, individuals living in Spanish language-only households are more likely to have lower family incomes than those who live in non-Spanish language-only households. The income distribution of individuals living in Spanish language-only households is in fact strikingly different from that for other Hispanics and from the overall income distribution (Figure 2-14). Levels of educational attainment for individuals living in the Spanish-only households also differ from non-Spanish only Hispanic households and other households.
Figure 2-13: The Spanish Language Only Sub-Groups of the Hispanic
Category Have a Strikingly Different Income Distribution Than Other Hispanics
and the Population at Large, 2001
Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S.
Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey
Supplements.
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|
Oct. 1997 |
Sept. 2001 |
Percent of
People Who Are Computer Users |
Growth in Use
Rate |
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|
|
Computer Users |
Total |
Computer Users |
Total |
Oct. 1997 |
Sept. 2001 |
Oct. 1997 to
Sept. 2001 |
|
Total Population |
136,900 |
255,689 |
174,051 |
265,180 |
53.5 |
65.6 |
5.3 |
|
Gender |
|||||||
|
Male |
66,978 |
124,590 |
84,539 |
129,152 |
53.8 |
65.5 |
5.2 |
|
Female |
69,921 |
131,099 |
89,512 |
136,028 |
53.3 |
65.8 |
5.5 |
|
Race/ Origin |
|||||||
|
White |
105,957 |
184,295 |
130,848 |
186,793 |
57.5 |
70.0 |
5.2 |
|
Black |
13,854 |
31,786 |
18,544 |
33,305 |
43.6 |
55.7 |
6.5 |
|
Asian Amer. & Pac. Isl. |
5,306 |
9,225 |
7,600 |
10,674 |
57.5 |
71.2 |
5.6 |
|
Hispanic |
10,729 |
28,233 |
15,690 |
32,146 |
38.0 |
48.8 |
6.6 |
|
Employment Status |
|||||||
|
Employed a |
80,687 |
130,857 |
98,819 |
135,089 |
61.7 |
73.2 |
4.5 |
|
Not Employed a, b |
18,074 |
72,911 |
31,487 |
77,268 |
24.8 |
40.8 |
13.5 |
|
Family Income |
|||||||
|
Less than $15,000 |
13,182 |
44,284 |
11,681 |
31,354 |
29.8 |
37.3 |
5.9 |
|
$15,000 - $24,999 |
12,115 |
32,423 |
12,464 |
26,649 |
37.4 |
46.8 |
5.9 |
|
$25,000 - $34,999 |
16,360 |
33,178 |
16,495 |
28,571 |
49.3 |
57.7 |
4.1 |
|
$35,000 - $49,999 |
23,440 |
38,776 |
25,233 |
36,044 |
60.4 |
70.0 |
3.8 |
|
$50,000 - $74,999 |
30,043 |
41,910 |
35,465 |
44,692 |
71.7 |
79.4 |
2.6 |
|
$75,000 & above |
29,542 |
36,572 |
49,672 |
56,446 |
80.8 |
88.0 |
2.2 |
|
Educational Attainment |
|||||||
|
Less Than High School c |
2,331 |
29,114 |
4,672 |
27,484 |
7.9 |
17.0 |
21.5 |
|
High School Diploma / GED c |
19,256 |
57,487 |
27,118 |
57,386 |
33.5 |
47.3 |
9.2 |
|
Some College c |
24,595 |
42,544 |
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