Latinos Showing Biggest Uptick as Pew Research Study Finds Digital Divide Narrowing
A new Pew Hispanic study finds Internet access for Latino Americans has increased by 20 percent over a six-year period ending in 2015.
According to researchers, while the digital divide is narrowing for many Americans, the biggest uptick has come from among Latinos, who have gone from 64 percent to 84 percent access over the length of the study that began in 2009.
English, Spanish Speaking Latinos Impacted
Researchers found the increase comes from among both English and Spanish speaking Latinos, with the latter group more than doubling (36 percent to 74 percent) its level of access over the life of the study.
"Big gains in Internet use made by immigrant Hispanics and Spanish-dominant Hispanics, two closely linked groups, have been the main drivers in closing this gap," the report reads. "Both groups have long had among the lowest Internet use rates among Hispanics - and that is still the case today."
While Latinos have lagged behind other groups in Internet access, they have previously been found to be among "the most likely to own a smartphone, to live in a household without a land-line phone where only a cellphone is available and to access the Internet from a mobile device," researchers concluded.
By the time of the study's conclusion, 94 percent of Hispanics who speak mostly English had Internet access, up seven points from 2009 totals of 87 percent.
Researcher also concluded roughly 80 percent of Latino adults access the web through mobile devices such as a cell phone, smart phone or tablet. For young Latinos between the ages of 18 to 29, that figure jumps to 94 percent.
More Using the Web
Overall, the percentage of white Americans found to have Internet access increased by nine points up to 89 percent over the life of the study, while Black Americans saw an increase of 12 percent over the same time frame.
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