As in previous research, a strong correlation was found between ICT connectivity and income, both across countries and within. Income has been established as one of the key factors shaping the digital divide, as it determines whether individuals live in households which can afford computers, the Internet and other ICTs. Individuals living in low-income households are generally disadvantaged due to lack of access to a home computer and home Internet access, and therefore have fewer opportunities for computer-related learning (Felstead et al. 2002). Examining access to key ICTs by income within individual countries can provide a sense of the magnitude of internal digital divides. Indicatively, Chart 5 shows access to computers by income quartile and country. (The situation is very similar for Internet access). With the exception of Italy, for both computer and Internet access, there exists relatively little difference between the top two income quartiles - it is between the second, third and lowest quartiles that differences become most evident. In Canada, for example, computer access in the highest quartile (91.8%) slightly exceeds that of the second secondhighest income group (82.5%).
These rates are significantly higher than computer access for the lowest income quartile (54.6%). Italy lags behind the other countries in terms of computer and Internet access for each quartile. In fact, computer and Internet access for users in the top income quartile living in Italy (62.5%) is only marginally higher than the access rates of the lower quartiles of other countries.
While there is ample evidence that connectivity has been increasing to varying degrees in all countries, it is instructive for policy purposes to gauge perceptions among non-users. Data from the survey reveal that, in most countries, only a minority of individuals who do not use computers expressed an interest in starting to use one (Chart 6). In Canada, only 29.2% of non-users indicated an interest in starting to use a computer, and still fewer (22.7%) expected to use one in the following year. As shall be explained in the next section, this has significant consequences, as it has the potential to further marginalize that segment of the population with lower skills. This brings us to a more detailed investigation of the relation between ICTs and skills.
Chart 5. Home computer access by household income quartile, by country, 2003
Source: Veenhof, Clermont and Sciadas, 2005.
Chart 6. Interest in starting to use a computer among nonusers, by country, 2003
Source: Statistics Canada, Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, 2003.
