Background data: Who has access to technology?

In this section we attempt to provide a brief sketch or statistical overview of the extent to which Canadians use and/or have access, both at home and at work, to computer technology and other technologies that affect access to learning directly and indirectly. Where possible we have reported these data for women: where these data were not readily available due to time and cost factors delimiting this study, we have tried to extrapolate possible implications for women given other known data. Our analysis has focused on computer access and use and related information on learning.

Who has computers?

According to the Statistics Canada Household and Facilities Survey 1996, of the approximately 11.4 million Canadian households, some 3.6 million or 31.6% have a home computer, up over 10% from the previous year.

Not surprisingly, data show that those with higher incomes are more likely to have computers.

Comparisons with the 1994 survey indicate that percentages of households with computers are increasing, at both higher and lower income levels.

By 1995, the data show increases in computer ownership in both higher and lower income levels; 53% of those with incomes over $70,000 and 11% in households with incomes under $15,000; in the 1994 survey, over 45% of the highest income households had home computers compared to 9% of households with lower incomes.

Interestingly, families with children are also more likely to own computers (35%), as compared to families without children (25%) or one person households (12%). (1994 Household survey) Although this data is not broken down by women led households, data for lone parent families (1995 Household survey) can serve as a proxy. In 1995, only 22% of lone parent families with children under 18 had a home computer; whereas 44% of single family households reported computer ownership.²¹ The proportion of households with home computers varies across the country. For example, in Alberta and British Columbia, 38% of the households have home computers; in Newfoundland and New Brunswick, the figure is 22%.

Who has Internet access?

About half of computer owners also have a modem, the linking equipment that is required for access to the system of computer networks known as the Internet, but the minority of these households also have Internet access.

In the 1.8 million households with computers equipped with a modem only about one quarter actually access the Internet at home.

Who uses online services?

In the 1994 Household and Facilities Survey, of the people with home computers, 22% of men and 14% of women reported that they had used online services.

Use of online services translated into increased number of hours of computer use for both women and men although women report using the computer fewer hours than men. For those using online services the average number of hours of home computer use was nine hours per week for men (compared to six hours for men without online services) and seven hours per week for women (compared to five hours for those without online hook-up).

(More households in Alberta and British Columbia access the Internet than do Canadians on average, 10% as compared to 7.4%).