Despite some gains, the digital divide more broadly affects Latinos than nearly any other demographic group in the U.S. While public policy efforts and outreach campaigns seem to have had only a modest effect on improving the matter, a number of nonprofit organizations are working diligently to create a new generation of tech-savvy Latinos.
A recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows Latinos lag significantly behind other groups when it comes to technology adoption rates. About six million Latinos in California aren’t online and large disparities among Latinos persist. Some Latino subgroups are similar to other racial/ethnic groups in their access to broadband. For example, relatively high rates of access are evident among those who are U.S.-born (76 percent), prefer to speak English (75 percent), and earn at least $40,000 per year (75 percent). But other Latino subgroups still lag far behind in their rates of Internet access, such as those who are foreign-born (48 percent), prefer to speak Spanish (46 percent), or earn under $40,000 annually (50 percent). Surveys of Latino populations across the U.S., such as this Pew study, have presented similar findings.
“Latinos with incomes under $40,000 are among the lowest adopters of broadband, ” says Dean Bonner, survey project manager at PPIC. “Among Latino adults who don’t have a computer at home, cost was the number one reason, but there is also this large portion of the population that says they are just not interested. This is not to say that Latinos don’t see the value in it. According to a survey we conducted last year, a majority of Latinos said that not having high-speed Internet is a major disadvantage when it comes to finding information about job opportunities, gaining new career skills or accessing health information.” READ MORE
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