Digital inclusion in later life: cohort changes in internet use over a ten-year period in England

an article by Katey Matthews and James Nazroo (University of Manchester, UK) and Alan Marshall (University of St Andrews, UK) published in Ageing & Society Volume 39 Issue 9 (September 2019)

Abstract

The ability to use the internet frequently is likely to provide a useful means of engaging with society and using services in later life, yet older people are the most likely to suffer digital exclusion, with those of the oldest ages at the greatest risk.

Using six waves (2002–2012) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we model cohort-specific patterns of frequent internet use for people aged 50 and over. Multi-level growth models are used to observe trajectories of internet use over the ten-year period.

Firstly, analyses are stratified by gender and wealth, and secondly we additionally test for health effects.

The study finds cohort-specific differences in patterns of internet use. Rates of internet use increase faster among younger cohorts yet, despite initially increasing, begin to decline among older cohorts. Poor health is shown to be a key factor in shaping the trajectory of internet use over time. Rates of internet use are consistently lower for women than men and for those in poorer financial circumstances, independently of age cohort.

The findings demonstrate the importance of ensuring older people can remain digitally included throughout later life, including after the onset of poorer health, especially as some of these individuals might benefit the most from some of the services the internet can provide.

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Learning online? Educational Internet use and participation in adult learning, 2002 to 2010

Patrick White (Department of Sociology, University of Leicester, UK) and Neil Selwyn (London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education, London, UK) published in Educational Review Volume 64 Issue 4 (November 2012)

Abstract

Covering a decade during which the “digital divide” came to popular and political attention, and written at a time when the Internet continues to be championed as a means of widening access to educational opportunities, this paper presents an analysis of the social, economic and educational characteristics associated with using the Internet for educational purposes.

The research was conducted using nationally-representative, individual-level, repeated cross-sectional data (n = 47,001) collected in annual surveys of adults in the UK between 2002 and 2010.

The results of multivariate analyses show that although there was a substantial increase in both Internet access and non-educational use of the Internet during this period, there was comparatively little growth in “educational” Internet use.

As with participation in adult learning more generally, educational Internet use was structured by age, occupational class and educational engagement.

The growth in the availability of Internet access and the development of new technologies appears to have neither increased nor widened participation in adult learning. This growth does not appear to have impacted on the social characteristics of those who use the Internet for educational purposes, nor led to any substantial uptake in Internet-based learning among already educationally-active groups.

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