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In the early 2000s, frequent internet usage was not the norm for nearly half of American adults, or 48% — a figure that dwindled to 10% in a recent study released online by Pew Research Center.
According to the study, as of 2019, only 10% of U.S. adults don’t use the internet, with the black and Hispanic population making up the majority, the results indicated.
“For many Americans, going online is an important way to connect with friends and family, shop, get news and search for information. Yet today, 10% of U.S. adults do not use the internet,” Monica Anderson, co-author of the study, stated.
“The size of this group has changed little over the past four years, despite ongoing government and social service programs to encourage internet adoption in underserved areas,” Anderson added.
Among the non-internet users signified in the study, seniors, aged 65 and over, made up the largest age group, while the 50-64 age group followed close by as second largest.
In the findings, non-internet users were more likely to reside in rural and urban communities, compared to suburban areas, according to researchers.
“Household income and education are also indicators of a person’s likelihood to be offline,” the findings point out. “Roughly three-in-ten adults with less than a high school education (29%) do not use the internet in 2019, compared with 35% in 2018. But that share falls as the level of educational attainment increases.”
All-in-all, the findings conclude that the vast majority of Americans are no longer off-the-radar, with the offline population abasing drastically since the early 2000s. In a 2013 survey, also initiated by Pew Research Center, researchers identified the causes as to why non-internet users choose not to venture through cyberspace.
“A third of non-internet users (34%) did not go online because they had no interest in doing so or did not think the internet was relevant to their lives,” the survey found.
“Another 32% of non-users said the internet was too difficult to use, including 8% of this group who said they were too old to learn.”
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan think tank devoted to opinion polling, demographic analysis, and social science research. The organization was founded by Andrew Kohut in 2004.