Latinos Online

They’re a lot less likely to use the internet, but lower education levels and limited English ability largely explain the gap between Hispanics and non-Hispanics in the U.S.

March 14, 2007
by Susannah Fox and Gretchen Livingston

FigureLatino adults living in the United States are considerably less likely than other adults to access the internet. Latinos now comprise 14% of the U.S. adult population and about half of this growing group (56%) goes online. By comparison, 71% of non-Hispanic whites and 60% of non- Hispanic blacks use the internet.

A new report issued jointly by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that several socio-economic characteristics that are often intertwined, such as low levels of education and limited English ability, largely explain the gap in internet use between Hispanics and non-Hispanics.

Just one in three Latinos (32%) who speak only Spanish go online compared with 78% of Latinos who are English-dominant and 76% of bilingual Latinos. Place of birth is also an important determinant of internet use: 76% of U.S.-born Latinos go online, compared with 43% of those born outside the U.S. Some of this disparity is related to language, but analysis shows that being born outside of the 50 states is an independent factor associated with a decreased likelihood of going online.

FigureEducation is also a powerful influence. Nine-in-ten (89%) Latinos with a college degree go online, compared with 70% of Latinos who completed high school, and only 31% of Latinos who did not complete high school. Internet use is uniformly low for whites (32%), Hispanics (31%), and African Americans (25%) who have not completed high school. However, 41% of Latino adults have not finished high school, compared with about one in ten non-Hispanic whites and one in five African Americans. The same pattern is evident at the other end of the spectrum of educational attainment. College-educated adults all have equally high levels (about 90%) of internet use regardless of race or ethnicity, yet the college educated make up a smaller share of the Latino population in comparison with non-Hispanics. When differences in levels of language or education are controlled for statistically, Hispanics and non-Hispanics show similar levels of internet use.

As is true of other groups in the population, younger Latinos are more likely than their elders to use the internet. For example:

    * 67% of Latinos, 77% of African Americans, and 86% of whites age 18-29 use the internet.
    * 61% of Latinos, 77% of African Americans, and 85% of whites age 30-41 use the internet.
    * 58% of Latinos, 69% of African Americans, and 80% of whites age 42-51 use the internet.
    * 46% of Latinos, 49% of African Americans, and 75% of whites age 52-60 use the internet.
    * 27% of Latinos, 31% of African Americans, and 55% of whites age 61-70 use the internet.
    * 17% of Latinos, 7% of African Americans, and 27% of whites age 71 and older use the internet.

This factor helps to boost overall Latino internet use since Latinos are a young population with nearly twice as large a share of adults under 40 as among whites. Controlling for education or income has no effect on the association of age and internet use among Latinos. However, statistical analysis indicates that age becomes a less significant characteristic in predicting internet use among Latinos when we take language, nativity, generation, or years in the U.S. (for immigrants) into account.

Mexicans are the largest national origin group in the U.S. Latino population and are among the least likely groups to go online: Only about half (52%) of Latinos of Mexican descent use the internet. Even when age, income, language, generation, or nativity is held constant, being Mexican is associated with a decreased likelihood of going online.

Just 29% of Latino adults have a broadband connection at home, compared with 43% of white adults. This is mostly due to the fact that Latino internet users are less likely than non-Hispanic white internet users to have any type of internet connection at home (79%, compared to 92%). Among the 79% of Latinos who do have a home internet connection, 66% have a broadband connection, which is actually similar to the rate among non- Hispanic white internet users with a home connection (68%).

To read the full report go to pewhispanic.org

Source: Pew Hispanic Center