Information, Technology Gaps Widen Among Americans

Despite skyrocketing growth in computer ownership, and seemingly exponential increases in online subscribership, the gap between information "haves" and have nots" in the United States has continued to widen over the last three years, according to a US Commerce Department study released on July 28th.

The study, which found that home ownership of personal computers has increased more than 50 percent since 1994, and the number of households using e-mail has nearly quadrupled, also found that African-American and Hispanic households are well behind the national average for telephone penetration, personal computer ownership, and online access.

"This study exposes a growing problem in our economy," Commerce Secretary William Daley said. "Too many Americans are not able to take part in the growing digital economy."

"For many Americans, access to the Information Superhighway is still beyond their grasp," added Larry Irving, assistant secretary for communications and information at the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration. "While the nationwide telephone penetration rate remains at a relatively high level of 93.8 percent, the same as in 1994 ... chances are one in four that you have no phone service if you earn less than $5,000."

Irving also noted that whites still have a far higher telephone penetration rate, 95.5 percent, than either African-Americans, 86.0 percent, or Hispanics, 86.5 percent.

According to the Irving, the survey, which was conducted using data compiled by the US Census Bureau through 48,000 door-to-door surveys, found "even more disturbing disparities in computer ownership and access to online services."

Households earning more than $75,000 are approximately seven times as likely to own a computer as those earning between $5,000 and $10,000, the survey found, with white households still more than twice as likely (40.8 percent) to own a computer than black households (19.3 percent) or Hispanic households (19.4 percent).

Nationwide penetration rates, the study found are 93.8 percent for telephones, 36.6 percent for personal computers (PCs); 26.3 percent for modems, and 18.6 percent for online access.

"More alarming, this ‘digital divide’ has widened since 1994," Irving said. "The gaps in ownership levels between whites and blacks, and whites and Hispanics are now greater today than they were three years ago."

Although PC ownership has grown by 10 to 13 percentage points in all areas since the NTIA did its last survey in 1974, the report found that central cities again lag behind the national average for ownership and online access, 32.8 percent and 17.3 percent respectively, as do rural areas, at 34.9 percent and 14.8 percent respectively.

The study, not surprisingly, also found that income greatly affects penetration levels. For telephones, households earning less than $20,000 per year trail the national average, while those earning less than $5,000 are the worst off: roughly one in four has no phone.

Single-parent, female households also lag significantly behind the national average, trailing the telephone rate for married couples with children by ten percentage points (86.3 percent versus 96 percent). They are also significantly less likely than dual-parent households to have a PC, 25 percent versus 57.2 percent, or to have online access (9.2 percent versus 29.4 percent.)

(Contact: Sallianne Fortunato, Commerce Department, 202-482-7002)