More in U.S. Got Online Amid Dot-Com Woes
Nearly half of U.S. children have Internet access as more women, minorities and middle-class Americans got online in the last half of 2000, a survey released Sunday found.
The percentage of women going online increased to 54% in December from 45% in June, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. About 43% of blacks had Internet access at the end of the year, compared with 35% at midyear, the study found.
Though increasing numbers of Internet companies failed last year after running out of cash, their audience keeps growing. The U.S. Internet market increased to about 104 million adults from 88 million in June. Declining personal computer costs and free or low-fee Internet services probably helped boost the number of minorities and households with incomes of $30,000 to $50,000 going online, the Pew group said.
“Falling computer prices make a difference and make Internet access more affordable for African Americans,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew project. “The big story is African American women. It’s an enormous increase.”
About 45% of black women were online at the end of 2000, compared with 34% in June, the study said. The gap between those with Internet access and those without is most pronounced among older Americans and households earning less than $30,000 a year, the group found.
Americans at least 65 years old using the Internet increased to 15% from 12% in June. In contrast, three-quarters of Americans ages 18 to 29 are online.
About 38% of U.S. households earning less than $30,000 a year had Web access, compared with 82% of those in households earning more than $75,000.
About 30 million U.S. children, or 45%, have Internet access, the survey found. Of those 12 to 17 years old, 73% have online access, and 29% of those younger than 12 have been online.
The telephone survey of 3,493 adults was done Nov. 22 to Dec. 21 by Princeton Survey Research Associates and has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The Pew Internet project, which began January 2000, is funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, Rainie said.
