New research shows that the digital divide is still alive in the US. Work done by the US Census Bureau confirms that there is a clear line between who is digitally affluent and who is not.
The number of the former continues to rise: nearly 62 per cent of US households had a computer and nearly 55 per cent were online i.e. if you can afford the PC you're likely to be able to afford an Internet connection as well.
Racially, no surprise to see the Black and Hispanic demographics loosing out, with 36 per cent of these groups having internet access, compared with 59.9 per cent and 66.7 for the white and Asian households. Education is also a big factor too, with only a fifth of those that didn't make it past high school having internet access. There also remain a great number of people in all households without access.
There still remained a significant portion of households without Net access - 45 per cent overall. Nearly two-fifths of these said that they were simply not interested. Nearly a quarter said they couldn't afford it or that their computer was not up to it. But worries about security, stumbling across dodgy websites, or privacy fears were rarely mentioned, at 1 per cent.