Latinos are less likely than whites to have an internet connection at
home.
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%).
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Latinos 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. 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.
- 78% of Latinos who are English-dominant and 76% of bilingual Latinos use the
internet, compared with 32% of Spanish-dominant Hispanic adults. - 76% of U.S.-born Latinos go online, compared with 43% of those born outside the
U.S. Some of this is related to language, but analysis shows that being born outside
of the 50 states is an independent factor that is associated with a decreased likelihood
of going online. - 80% of second-generation Latinos, the sons and daughters of immigrants, go online,
as do 71% of third-generation Latinos. - 89% of Latinos who have a college degree, 70% of Latinos who completed high
school, and 31% of Latinos who did not complete high school go online. - Mexicans are the largest national origin group in the U.S. Latino population and are
among the least likely groups to go online: 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.
Differences in levels of education and English proficiency explain much of the difference in internet usage between Hispanics and non-Hispanics.
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 when compared with non-Hispanics.
Language is also a powerful factor, as internet use is much higher among Latinos who
speak and read English fluently than among those who have limited English abilities or
who only speak Spanish. Language is not an issue in the white and black populations as
the shares of adults with limited English abilities is quite small.
A statistical analysis of the survey results shows education and language are each highly
significant factors when other differences in group characteristics are taken into account.
When the different levels of language or education are controlled statistically, Hispanics
and non-Hispanics show similar levels of internet use.
SOURCE:
Latinos Online: Hispanics with lower levels of education and English proficiency remain largely disconnected from the internet.
Susannah Fox, Pew Internet & American Life Project
Gretchen Livingston, Pew Hispanic Center
March 14, 2007