Category: Civic Participation

The Cost-Of-Living Crisis and the Digital Divide

01/10/2023 

Background

The United Kingdom and other developed countries have, undeniably, fully submerged into the age of digital transformation. With this ongoing transformation of society, sufficient digital infrastructure, skills, and literacy play a crucial role in peoples’ lives. As a result, there is a widening divide between those that are able to enjoy the benefits of societal digitisation and those that are falling behind this transition. The cost-of-living crisis is becoming an exacerbating cause of such digital inequality.

Someone experiencing the effects of poverty, due to an increase in expenditure on basic needs such as food, shelter, energy, and an inflation rate of 11.1%, risks being digitally excluded (House of Lords, 2023, p. 15). Internet packages and broadband deals have, likewise, become significantly more expensive, with most providers raising mid-contract prices by around 14-17% in April 2023. During this time, it was reported that around 1.4 million households struggled to pay broadband bills, and 2.3 million struggled with the rising cost of mobile bills (House of Lords, 2023, p. 15).

This research brief seeks to explore and analyse the digital divide in light of the cost-of-living crisis, paying particular attention to the demographics of digital exclusion, and the ways in which the digital divide risks being entrenched in the United Kingdom.

The Importance of Examining Digital Inequality

Digital equality is crucial for cultural and civic participation, employment prospects, education, and for accessing essential public services. In today’s highly digitalised society, “1 in 20 households do not have home internet access” (Ofcom, 2022, p. 1; Good Things Foundation, 2023, p. 1). Here it is important to highlight the political implications of a digitally unequal society. Unequal access to basic social resources - including digital services - accelerates and exacerbates political conflicts and polarisation. Hence, for us to develop a more socially and economically equal society, we need a deeper understanding of the ramifications of digital exclusion. The economist Thomas Piketty rightly noted in  Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2014) how the unequal distribution of wealth in society causes both economic and social instability. When applied to the realm of digital inclusion, this suggests that the digital divide, if not addressed effectively, will cause a similar societal polarisation.
 
 

The Demographics of Digital Inclusion

Age

It has been demonstrated that older people are more likely to be excluded from the digital world, as they may have limited access to digital devices, lack support and motivation, and are, on average, more concerned about scams and security (Age UK, 2023). A lack of digital skills is, moreover, particularly evident among older people in rural communities. A study conducted by Harvey, Hastings, and Chowdhury (2021, p. 2) found that “compared with their younger counterparts, those aged 65+ years are 36% less likely to use government/local authority websites to obtain information and 58% less likely to download government forms”. The study identified a number of crucial barriers to older adults accessing online services, including a perception that such systems are complex to use and hard to learn, lack of confidence in their own abilities, lack of trust in the security of the system, and a physical inability to use a system.” A study by Richardson, Holmes, and Burgess (2023, p. 14) notes in a similar way the challenges for elderly people in terms of “completing online application forms without a reliable internet connection or device with the required capability” (see also Holmes and Burgess, 2022).

Disability

Although age is a significant factor, disabled people face a similar set of challenges in terms of taking part in our digitalised society. An Office for National Statistics report (2019, p. 14), authored by Paola Serafino, found that “56% of adult internet non-users were disabled, much higher than the proportion of disabled adults in the UK population as a whole, which in 2016 to 2017 was estimated to be 22%”. The study also noted that “There is [...]a difference in the percentage of disabled people accessing internet ’on the go’ compared with nondisabled people”, with 59% for disabled people compared to 82% among non-disabled people (2019, p. 15). The statistics here indicates that even though a significant percentage of disabled people are able to access digital services “on the go”, it is still low compared to the rest of the population.

Educational Level

Relatively speaking, people with a lower level of education are more likely to suffer the effects of digital exclusion. A study conducted by Helsper (2011, p. 12) presented the following statistics in the context of education and employment: Among employed people with higher levels of education, 99% use digital services frequently; 80% of unemployed people with higher levels of education use digital services frequently. Conversely, 64% of employed people but with low levels of education use digital services frequently. And, only around 25% of those that are both unemployed and possess no formal education use digital services frequently. These statistics clearly indicate a positive relationship between education and digital usage.
 

This difference in regular use of digital services between educated and less educated individuals presents a clear challenge for the prospects of creating and inclusive society and economy. Not only is it, following these statistics, easier for those with higher levels of education to access a range of digital services – including public services – but such digital proficiency offers greater opportunities for career progression.

Geographic Location

As with other forms of social/economic inequalities, the rural and urban divide has had a significant impact on digital exclusion. According to a Good Things Foundation report “Only 80% of rural households in the UK have standard broadband availability compared to 98% of urban households” (Good Things Foundation, 2013, p. 1). This view is further corroborated by Hutton and Baker’s (2022, p. 15) study, which found that “61.8% of premises in England had indoor 4G coverage from all operators, compared to 54.2% in Wales, 54.1% in Scotland, and 49.2% in Northern Ireland. Voice call coverage from all operators in the most rural constituencies ranges from 65.8% in Northern Ireland to 81.9% in England”. This demonstrated not only a digital divide within particular constituents, but across constituents as well. The study further revealed that “8% of UK landmass had no coverage from any mobile network, and 4% of the landmass has no signal for voice calls” (2022, p. 15). This indicates a clear necessity of further investment in digital infrastructures within and across rural areas. For instance, 90.7% of the urban conurbations of England has access to 4G data, compared to 61.8% of English rural communities. The causes of such a digital divide are multifaceted and corresponds to a range of demographical factors: An older-than-average population resisting the internet, an increased out-migration of young people with digital skills, fewer local communities to support digital skills training, and lack of awareness for the need of digital skills (Good Things Foundation, 2013, p. 2).

Race/Ethnicity

As some research indicates, digital exclusion is more pronounced among certain ethnic groups, and especially among older (>55) minority ethnic adults. For example, recent internet users from an Asian, or Asian-British Background, was 83.6% for those aged 55-64 years; 64.8% for those aged 65-74, and as low as 29.9% for people older than 75 years old. In the same age groups across the white population, these numbers were 93.5% (55-64 years), 83.8% (65-74 years), and 47.6% (>75 years). Thus, we can see how “barriers to digital inclusion are clustered in minority ethnic communities” (Poole, Ramasawmy, and Banerjee, 2021).

Connections With Socioeconomic Status

Digital exclusion exacerbates and is exacerbated by other disadvantages. It has, for example, been shown that 90% of those deemed “offline” suffer from social or economic disadvantages (HACT, 2022). A recent parliamentary report showed that 21% (or 2.4 million) of households from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds do not use the internet at homes, with a following 38% (3.6 million) users being deemed “narrow users” (House of Lords, 2023). Those numbers are, respectively, 6% (690,000) and 22% (2.7 million) in the highest socio-economic groups. 
 

Hence, we can see that a rising cost of living will have a negative impact on those groups that are currently experiencing the digital divide. Those that are already suffering from socio-economic exclusion will be especially impacted by this situation, including older people, minority ethnic individuals, and disabled people. Yet, it should be noted that the cost-of-living crisis risks pushing groups that were not previously affected by the digital divide into digital exclusion.

Policy Recommendations

Given the multidimensionality of the problem, there are no simple or straightforward solutions to mitigate digital exclusion within the context of the cost-of-living crisis. However, some possible solutions include: 
 

• Make people aware of social tariffs, such as cheaper broadband deals and phone packages. Many that are eligible for such discounted deals, including those claiming Universal Credit or Pension Credit, are not aware of social tariff options. According to Ofcom’s research (2023), “awareness of social tariffs among eligible customers has improved, rising from 16 percent in February 2022 to 47 percent in April 2023.” Yet, this suggests that more than half of eligible households are still unaware of these deals (House of Lords, 2023, p. 29).
   
• Enable full internet connectivity across the UK. Although steps have been taken to address this problem, 80,000 homes and businesses “still do not have access to decent broadband” (Ofcom, 2022). Likewise, it remains the case that 4G coverage is slightly lower in rural areas (2022, p. 2).
   
  
• Develop an understanding of Minimum Digital Living Standard, and what “households need to be digitally included” (University of Liverpool, 2023). Such a benchmark would help in clarifying what is needed to feel connected and to identify when someone is at risk of being digitally excluded.
  
  
• Following the analysis of The Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy (University of Cambridge), we recommend a renewed focus on digital accessibility to support the inclusion of disabled individuals (2023). This includes widening the scope of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
   

References
AGE UK. (2023). Age UK – Written evidence (DCL0049). Available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/119057/pdf/

Bakeer, C., Hutton, G., and Christie, L., and Wright, S. (2020). COVID-19 and the digital divide (Rapid Response). Available at: https://post.parliament.uk/covid-19-and-the-digital-divide/ 
 

Good Things Foundation. (2013). Doing Digital Inclusion: Rural Handbook. Available at: https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/insights/doing-digital-inclusion-rural-handbook/#:~:text=Only%2080%25%20of%20rural%20households,to%2086%25%20of%20urban%20households
 

Good Things Foundation. (2023). How do we solve digital exclusion in a cost of living crisis? Available at: https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/insights/our-submission-to-house-of-lords-communications-and-digital-committee-inquiry/ 

HACT. (2022). Digital Poverty in Social Housing: Solutions for breaking the cycle. Available at: https://hact.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Digital-poverty-in-social-housing-2022-Whitepaper-LR.pdf 
 

Harvey, M., Hastings, D.P., and Chowdhury, G. (2021). Understanding the costs and challenges of the digital divide through UK council services. Journal of Information Science, 49(5): pp. 1153-1167.

Helsper, E. (2011). The emergence of a digital underclass: digital policies in the UK and evidence for inclusion. LSE Media Policy Project Series. Available at: https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/38615/ 
 

Holmes, H., and Burgess, G. (2022). Digital exclusion and poverty in the UK: How structural inequality shapes experiences of getting online. Digital Geography and Society, 3: 1-9.
 

House of Lords. (2023). Digital Exclusion (Communications and Digital Committee). Available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5803/ldselect/ldcomm/219/21902.htm 
 

Hutton, G., and Baker, C. (2022). Rural mobile coverage in the UK: Not-spots and partial notspots. House of Commons Library. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN07069/SN07069.pdf 
 

Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge. (2023). Written Evidence. Available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/119043/pdf/ 
 

Ofcom. (2022). Digital Exclusion: A review of Ofcom’s research on digital exclusion among adults in the UK. Available at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/234364/digital-exclusion-review-2022.pdf 
 

Ofcom. (2023). Affordability of communications services. Available at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/260147/2023-april-affordability-of-communications-services.pdf 
 

Office for National Statistics. (2019). Exploring the UK’s digital divide. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/householdcharacteristics/homeinternetandsocialmediausage/articles/exploringtheuksdigitaldivide/2019-03-04   
 

Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty-first century. Harvard University Press.

Poole., L., Ramasawmy, M., and Banerjee, A. (2021). Digital first during the COVID-19 pandemic: does ethnicity matter? Lancet Public Health, 6(9): e628-e630.

Richardson, R., Holmes, H., and Burgess, G. (2023). Digital exclusion and the cost of living crisis. Available at: https://archive.placesforpeople.co.uk/media/nwudaxyt/digital-exclusion-and-the-cost-of-living-crisis-final-v2.pdf

University of Liverpool. (2023). Minimum Digital Living Standard launched to reduce digital exclusion in UK households with children.  https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2023/03/15/minimum-digital-living-standard-launched-to-reduce-digital-exclusion-in-uk-households-with-children/