U.S. Immigration Looks at Life in the United States: The Pew Research Center recently released a report stating that currently, 15% of adults in the United States have not used the Internet, approximately 47 million people.
The Pew Research Center began studying the impact of the Internet on society in 2000. At that time, 48% of adults in the United States had not used the Internet.
In 2013, the Pew Research Center published the reasons why people had not used the Internet. 34% stated they were not interested in the Internet, did not want to use it, or felt it was unnecessary; 32% indicated that the Internet was not easy to use, with specific reasons including difficulty accessing the Internet or concerns about spam, malware, and hackers. Additionally, 19% stated they could not afford a computer or the cost of Internet access, while 7% claimed they had no access to the Internet.
This year, the Pew Research Center analyzed the reasons for not using the Internet from a demographic perspective. The proportion of older individuals not using the Internet is the highest, with 4 out of 10 individuals aged 65 and older not using the Internet. In contrast, only 3% of individuals aged 18 to 29 do not use the Internet.
Household income and education level also affect Internet usage. Among those without a high school diploma, 1 in 3 do not use the Internet. In terms of income, the proportion of adults with a household income below $30,000 who do not go online is 8 times that of those with an annual income above $75,000.
Furthermore, the proportion of rural populations not connected to the Internet is twice that of urban populations, with 1 in 5 African Americans and 18% of Hispanic Americans not connected, while the proportions for White and English-speaking Asian Americans are 14% and 5%, respectively.