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IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________


EuroStat: 143/2005 - 10 November 2005
The digital divide in Europe
85% of students used the internet in 2004
Only 13% of the retired used the internet
http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2005/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2005_MONTH_11/4-10112005-EN-AP.PDF
[full-text, 3 pages]

In the EU25, 85% of students (aged 16 or more in school or university) used the internet during the first quarter of
2004, as did 60% of employees, 40% of the unemployed and 13% of the retired, compared to an EU25 average of
47% for individuals1 aged from 16 to 74. This divide by employment status is also found by educational level2: only
25% of those with at most lower secondary education used the internet during the first quarter of 2004, while the
proportion rose to 52% for those who had completed secondary education, and 77% for those with a tertiary
education.

During the past decade, Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) have become widely available to
the general public, in both accessibility and cost. However, gaps remain in the use of ICT amongst the EU
population depending on factors such as their age, employment status and educational level, and the degree of
urbanisation of the area where they live. This so-called digital divide has several origins: missing infrastructure or
access; missing incentives to use ICTs; lack of the computer literacy or skills necessary to take part in the
information society.

This information comes from a report3 released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European
Communities, which takes a closer look at the magnitude of the digital divide and some possible explanations for
its existence.

Largest divide by educational level in Portugal, smallest in Lithuania

In all Member States for which data are available, there is a higher level of internet use among the higher educated
than among the lower. There is no significant link between the overall level of internet penetration and the size of
this divide. The largest gaps were recorded in Portugal (70 percentage points), Slovenia (68 pp), Spain (61 pp),
the United Kingdom (59 pp) and Italy (58 pp), while the smallest divides were observed in Lithuania (11 pp),
Sweden (24 pp), Germany (25 pp), Denmark and Estonia (both 27 pp).

Only in Sweden (70%), Denmark (64%), Finland (54%) and Germany (51%) did more than half of the lower
educated use the internet during the first quarter of 2004, while the proportion of the higher educated who used the
internet fell below 50% only in Lithuania (38%) and Greece (48%).

Only in the Netherlands did more than half of the retired use the internet

In all Member States for which data are available, the highest proportion of internet use during the first quarter of
2004 was recorded for students. The highest ratios were registered in Finland (97%), Sweden and Denmark (both
96%), and the lowest in Greece (55%), Ireland (57%) and Italy (74%). Across the EU, employees generally
registered the second highest proportion of internet use. The highest levels were observed in Sweden (86%),
Denmark (83%), the Netherlands and Finland (both 82%), and the lowest in Greece (28%), Lithuania and
Hungary (both 33%).

In nearly all Member States a lower proportion of the unemployed than employees used the internet in the first
quarter of 2004. Internet use amongst the unemployed ranged from 8% in Lithuania and 10% in Latvia to 86% in
Sweden and 76% in the Netherlands. In all Member States the lowest proportion of internet use was observed for
the retired. In thirteen Member States less than 10% of the retired had used the internet, while only in the
Netherlands (54%), Sweden (45%), Denmark (34%), and Luxembourg (32%) was the proportion more than a
quarter. These gaps are consistent with those found by age, where the proportion of internet users among those
aged 16 to 24 was three times higher than for those aged 55 to 74.

AND TABLES.....

_____________________________
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Stuart Basefsky *
Director, IWS News Bureau *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor *
New York, NY 10016 *
*
Telephone: (607) 255-2703 *
Fax: (607) 255-9641 *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu *
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# posted by SBasefsky : 5:33 AM