Towards bridging the grey digital divide: changes in internet access and its predictors from 2002 to 2014 in Germany
Towards bridging the grey digital divide: changes in internet access and its predictors from 2002 to 2014 in Germany
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DOI：
10.1007/s10433-020-00552-z
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发表时间：
2020-03-10
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Webster, Noah J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Huxhold, Oliver;Nees, Elena;Webster, Noah J.
互联网是现代社会不可或缺的一个方面。它促进了远距离交流、获取信息、卫生保健干预以及社会参与的多种机会。尽管这项技术越来越普及，但在谁可以使用互联网方面，仍然存在不平等现象。特别是，老年人在互联网接入方面落后，从而使他们面临被社会排斥的风险。为了更好地了解这种灰色数字鸿沟的决定因素，目前的研究对比了互联网接入的影响因素，使用德国老龄化调查(DEAS)的数据比较了2002年至2014年不同年龄段(40至54岁、55至69岁和70至85岁)的样本。Logistic回归证实，在这两个时间点上，年龄越大，上网的可能性越低。然而，2002至2014年间，互联网访问者的比例主要在中老年群体中增长。此外，男性和受过高等教育的人上网的几率都更高。然而，与2002年相比，2014年互联网接入方面的性别和教育差异明显减弱。最后，更高的收入和认知能力都与更大的上网几率相关，而照顾孙子孙女只在年龄最大的年龄段与上网显著相关。为了试图弥合灰色数字鸿沟，目前的研究为确定受这种日益重要的社会不平等形式影响最大的群体提供了基础。
The internet is an indispensable aspect of modern society. It facilitates long distance communication, access to information, health care interventions, as well as multiple opportunities for social participation. Despite increasing pervasiveness of this technology, persistent inequalities exist in who has access to the internet. In particular, older adults lag behind in having internet access, thus putting them at risk for social exclusion. In order to gain a better understanding about the determinants of this grey digital divide, the current study contrasts influencing factors of internet access, comparing samples from 2002 to 2014 across age groups (40 to 54 years, 55 to 69 years and 70 to 85 years) using data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS). Logistic regression confirmed that the likelihood of having internet access was lower with higher age at both time points. However, the percentages of people with internet access grew primarily in the middle and older age groups between 2002 and 2014. Furthermore, being male and having a higher education were both associated with greater odds of internet access. However, gender and education differences in internet access were significantly less pronounced in 2014 in contrast to 2002. Finally, both greater income and cognitive ability were associated with greater odds of internet access, while providing care for a grandchild was significantly associated with internet access only among the oldest age group. In an attempt towards bridging the grey digital divide, the current study serves as a basis for identifying groups mostly affected by this increasingly important form of social inequality.