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Pew Hispanic Center
Latino Digital Divide: Native Born vs. Foreign Born
Overview
Technology use among foreign-born Latinos continues to lag significantly behind that of their U.S.-born counterparts, according to a new analysis of survey data from the Pew Hispanic Center. The nativity differences are especially pronounced when it comes to internet use.
While 85% of native-born Latinos ages 16 and older go online, only about half (51%) of foreign-born Latinos do so.1 When it comes to cell phones, 80% of native-born Latinos use one, compared with 72% of the foreign born.
Latinos are the largest minority group and largest immigrant group in the United States. Overall, they comprise 15.4% of the total U.S. population. Among Latinos ages 16 and older, 56% are foreign born and 44% were born in the U.S.2
While rates of technology use among native-born Hispanics are relatively high, technology use for the full population of Hispanics continues to lag behind the use rates of the non-Hispanic population. When it comes to internet use, some 64% of Latinos ages 18 and older go online,3 compared with 78% of non-Latinos. More than three-fourths (76%) of Latinos use a cell phone, compared with 86% of non-Latinos.4
Among youths ages 16 to 25, non-Hispanics are approaching near-universal internet use, but the rate is markedly lower for Hispanics.5 Some 95% of non-Hispanics ages 16 and 17 go online, as do 96% of those ages 18 to 25; for Hispanics ages 16 to 25, the internet use rate is 77%. The ethnic gap in cell phone use is less pronounced, though still significant. Some 82% of non-Hispanics ages 16 to 17 use a cell phone, compared with 72% of Hispanics. Among those ages 18 to 25, 94% of non-Hispanics use a cell phone, compared with eight-in-ten (80%) Hispanics.
Read the full report at pewhispanic.org.
1. The results shown here are based on telephone surveys of both landlines and cell phones, so they are not directly comparable to findings in earlier Pew Hispanic Center reports on technology use, which were based on landline-only samples (Fox and Livingston 2007, Livingston, Parker and Fox 2009).
2. ‘Foreign-born’ Latinos are those born outside of the U.S., including those born in Puerto Rico.
3. While data are available for non-Hispanic respondents ages 16 and 17, they cannot easily be combined with the data for ages 18 and older. As such, for aggregate comparisons of Hispanics and non-Hispanics, only ages 18 and older are included, but for age-group analyses, 16- and 17-year olds are included.
4. Results for non-Hispanics ages 18 and older are based on the Pew Internet and American Life Project’s (PIAL) 2009 Reputation Management Survey, which was conducted on cellular as well as landline telephones from August 18 through September 14, 2009 among a nationally representative sample of 2,253 adults.
5. Results for non-Hispanics ages 16 and 17 are based on the PIAL 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey, which was conducted on cellular as well as landline telephones from June 26 through September 24, 2009 among a nationally representative sample of 800 teens ages 12 to 17 and their parents. Race/ethnicity for the teens in this survey is based on the race/ethnicity of the parent respondent.