Wednesday, December 17, 2008
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Though 70% of adult residents in the City of San Diego have access to a computer tied to the Internet, there remains a significant and persistent digital divide among less affluent and less well educated San Diegans. Those are the results of a survey of 520 San Diegans released today by the San Diego Institute for Policy Research (SDI) and conducted by Competitive Edge Research and Communication, Inc. (CERC).
Researchers found that education and income levels were the most important factors driving computer and Internet access. While 85% of those city households with incomes of $40,000 or greater report having Internet access at home, that figure drops precipitously to just 39% among those households with yearly income less than $40,000. Among those with at least some college education, Internet access exceeds 80% while only 39% of those with just a high school diploma reported having a computer at home with Internet access. Divisions across racial lines also persist in the digital world, as only 42% of Hispanics and 62% of African-Americans reported having access, compared to 73% of Asians, and 83% of Caucasians.
Steve Francis, SDI’s Chairman and Founder noted that, “While San Diego can take some solace in the fact that Internet usage is widespread, local leaders must redouble their efforts to bridge the digital divide.” He added, “Given the fact that Internet availability provides access to vital resources like job sites, affordable on-line classes and advice for personal finances, it remains critically important that we find innovative ways to meet the needs of San Diego’s large unwired population.”
The survey also found that those with Internet access spend an average of 14.2 hours a week, or almost a month a year, on-line. Internet usage is heaviest among those San Diegans aged 25 to 34 years, which report spending almost 20 hours a week connected. Moreover, males spend significantly more time on the information superhighway then women, with more than one in four spending 21 hours or more a week on-line.
Finally, the survey asked participants about their usage of social networking sites. Researchers found, after controlling for other factors, that the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are more common among younger, more liberal respondents, and those San Diegans living North of Interstate 8.
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