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27% of people aged 60 and over are digitally excluded

Published on 26 October 2018
Update on 26 September 2022
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Summary

On September 27, Petits frères des Pauvrespublished the results of a rich study on the digital exclusion of the elderly. The study points out the specificities of the relationship between the elderly and the digital world, especially the most fragile among them.

Conducted by the CSA Institute on behalf of the association, the study distinguishes a first divide in terms of equipment (21% of people aged 60 and over still do not have Internet at home, while 44% do not have a smartphone) and a second divide in terms of usage: only 54% know how to watch videos on the Internet, only 43% use social networks and only 35% use their smartphone to go online.

"According to the authors of the study, it is not only a question of equipping the elderly, but also of accompanying and training them in the many uses of digital tools...Knowing that only 35% of people aged 60 and over have received help or training, it is easy to imagine the progress that would be made by the generalization of support... Support or training cannot be applied to all elderly people: those who do not use the Internet explain it as much by the fear of not knowing how to do it as by a lack of interest".

Only 11% of elderly non-Internet users would like to take a training course". "For these reluctant people, it is therefore necessary to continue to find solutions to circumvent the problems posed by this disconnection - as for taxes for example - and that a simple hotline will not be able to solve",conclude the authors of the study.

Exclusion that particularly affects the over 80s and the most vulnerable people

  • 27% of people aged 60 and over never use the Internet, or about 4 million people (12% for the entire French population according to the 2017 Digital Barometer).
  • While Internet connection is now more often done via mobile devices, people aged 60 and over prefer computers. Only 35% of those aged 60 and over go online via a smartphone.
  • This exclusion particularly affects the over 80s - more than 1.7 million people - and people with incomes below €1,000.
  • 14% of 60-70 year olds are also digitally excluded. " A significant and worrying figure because this group of non-users in the younger age groups contradicts the prevailing optimism that the generational digital divide has naturally been resolved."
  • "The digital exclusion of our seniors is fortunately in strong regression "with 73% of users while 10 years ago only 26% of the elderly were connected including 14% of the over 70 years. "This significant increase should not obscure the fact that the rate of non-use of the Internet for this category of the population is 15% higher than the average for the French.
  • "Those who do not use the Internet find themselves increasingly excluded from the rapid digitization of our society, including the youngest age groups, such as the 60-69 year olds, who are still numerous non-users.
  • The great excluded from the digital world are more women over 80 years old, living alone, with low incomes.
  • The feeling of exclusion is also felt by nearly ¼ of those aged 60 and over, including Internet users for whom the use can make them aware of shortcomings. This overall feeling of exclusion affects all age categories.

Whatever your age, when you are an Internet user, you regularly use digital technology

This result "goes against the conventional wisdom that suggests that older people do not use the Internet. When our seniors are connected, on the contrary, they regularly use digital technology, including the oldest among them.
  • 83% of Internet users aged 60 and over go online at least once a day.
  • Regular use continues beyond the age of 80, with 78% of 80-84 year olds and 76% of 85 year olds and over.
  • "The advancement in old age does not imply a significant decrease in the use of digital technology.

Digital technology, a vector of social ties for 61% of Internet users aged 60 and over

The benefits of the Internet for maintaining connections were well understood by connected seniors.
  • 61% of Internet users aged 60 and over use the Internet to maintain links with family and friends. This is the usage that comes first and is extremely beneficial to the over 80s.
  • Contacts are regular, since 67% of Internet users aged 60 and over have contact with their family at least several times a month and nearly half once or several times a week.
  • 64% have contact with friends at least several times a month.
  • Access to many sources of information is also favored by 60% of respondents who are Internet users or who go online.
  • For online administrative procedures or online shopping, only 34% of Internet users over 60 years old use the Internet to save time in their procedures compared to 66% of Internet users in general (Digital Barometer 2017).
  • The use of video calls, social networks or online games is in the minority.
  • "Digital exclusion has become an aggravating factor in relational isolation. In a context of changing family relationships linked to new lifestyles and economic mobility, the Internet allows people to maintain social ties. Being deprived of it is therefore a factor of isolation".

Internet users or not, online procedures are a problem.

Nearly a third of people aged 60 and over have already given up on doing something online.
  • The procedures that are most frequently abandoned are those related to taxes (30%), social benefits from pension funds, health insurance, CAF (26%) and car ownership (28%).
  • For the compulsory teledeclaration of income in 2019, 39% of those aged 60 and over intend to ask for help, 25% of whom will ask someone close to them and 12% by going directly to the counter of the tax center. 5% of those surveyed do not know how they will do it.
  • Seniors who are Internet users also have difficulty with this type of process.

Lack of interest, a major barrier for those 60 years and older who do not use the Internet.

The lack of or poor command of digital technology is of course a major obstacle: 59% of non-Internet users over 60 years old believe that the Internet is too complicated and 47% do not know how to use it.
  • The main reason given by our seniors to explain their non-use of the internet is the feeling of its uselessness expressed by 68% of non-internet users aged 60 and over ( 6% for the population as a whole according to the Digital Barometer 2017).
  • Only 11% of non-Internet-using seniors would like to receive learning support.
  • The feeling of exclusion or the experience of giving up on an online process is a greater motivation to be helped by 30% and 22% of non-internet users respectively.
  • Price remains a major barrier for people with modest incomes (54%).
  • The fear of data piracy is slightly more important than in the rest of the population. 41% of non-Internet users aged 60 and over consider piracy to be a hindrance, compared with 34% of the general population.

Learning about digital technology by "doing it yourself" or thanks to family solidarity

  • Only slightly more than a third of those 60 and older have received assistance or training in digital tools.
  • Family solidarity plays an important role since 18% of people aged 60 and over declare having received help or training from their children or grandchildren and 9% from another family member. This help is considered valuable and satisfactory by 94% of those who received it.
  • This rate remains high regardless of the age of the learner.

Recommendations from the study

Improving digital access

Reduce territorial inequalities by prioritizing white zones that exclude and penalize Internet users and people who are farthest from the digital world, especially in rural areas where public services and shops are being cut off.Making digital equipment accessible
  • Encourage companies to recondition the computer equipment they no longer use to give it to the digitally excluded. Inspired by the law on food waste or the upcoming law on clothing waste.
  • Continue to encourage operators to offer a social rate for the connection subscription. For people with low incomes, investing in digital equipment and a connection remains a major obstacle. For people who are already equipped, the cost of renewing obsolete equipment is also important.
  • To help with the installation of the equipment so as not to discourage the less expert public and to propose free and adapted local assistance services with a human contact.
Promote digital uses
  • Change the way we look at our seniors. Advancing age should not be synonymous with ineptitude, loss of faculties and disinterest in new technologies. Let's stop considering people, especially the elderly, as a "lost generation" that will never be interested in digital tools and the digitalization of society. 
  • Do not reduce digital use to access to rights and associate Internet with the pleasure of using it. For many people, digital technology is becoming synonymous with constraints and unpleasant use, which leads to situations of failure. However, digital technology offers many possibilities, including the maintenance of social links.
  • Install a "web-friendly" universe in the daily life of the elderly. Installing a facilitating context in places frequented by the elderly (including collective places such as EHPAD or USLD) is essential to allow them to access and take an interest in digital tools. 
  • Make our seniors "want to want to": By carefully assessing their needs, expectations, sources of interest and obstacles.
  • To train the elderly who wish to do so with a personalized approach and to promote their autonomy. It is essential to base the approach on their interests. And it is essential not to generate a kind of "institutionalized loss of autonomy" by only offering assistance by doing "instead of".
  • Launch a large-scale national plan to combat the digital exclusion of the elderly, led by the public authorities.
  • Respecting the choice of those who are reluctant and guaranteeing them, as well as people whose difficulties (disability, illness, illiteracy, etc.) will not allow them to access the digital system, human support, so as not to create inequalities in access to rights.
  • End the complexity of e-government and service sites.
  • Preserve the citizen participation of the digitally excluded and allow them to speak out on social issues. 
  • Strengthen the legal framework to secure people seeking help and their "digital caregivers" regarding data protection, privacy, and risk of error.

    • Référence :

Sources

27% of people aged 60 and over are digitally excluded

On September 27, Petits frères des Pauvrespublished the results of a rich study on the digital exclusion of the elderly. The study points out the specificities of the relationship between the elderly and the digital world, especially the most fragile among them.

Conducted by the CSA Institute on behalf of the association, the study distinguishes a first divide in terms of equipment (21% of people aged 60 and over still do not have Internet at home, while 44% do not have a smartphone) and a second divide in terms of usage: only 54% know how to watch videos on the Internet, only 43% use social networks and only 35% use their smartphone to go online.

"According to the authors of the study, it is not only a question of equipping the elderly, but also of accompanying and training them in the many uses of digital tools...Knowing that only 35% of people aged 60 and over have received help or training, it is easy to imagine the progress that would be made by the generalization of support... Support or training cannot be applied to all elderly people: those who do not use the Internet explain it as much by the fear of not knowing how to do it as by a lack of interest".

Only 11% of elderly non-Internet users would like to take a training course". "For these reluctant people, it is therefore necessary to continue to find solutions to circumvent the problems posed by this disconnection - as for taxes for example - and that a simple hotline will not be able to solve",conclude the authors of the study.

Exclusion that particularly affects the over 80s and the most vulnerable people

  • 27% of people aged 60 and over never use the Internet, or about 4 million people (12% for the entire French population according to the 2017 Digital Barometer).
  • While Internet connection is now more often done via mobile devices, people aged 60 and over prefer computers. Only 35% of those aged 60 and over go online via a smartphone.
  • This exclusion particularly affects the over 80s - more than 1.7 million people - and people with incomes below €1,000.
  • 14% of 60-70 year olds are also digitally excluded. " A significant and worrying figure because this group of non-users in the younger age groups contradicts the prevailing optimism that the generational digital divide has naturally been resolved."
  • "The digital exclusion of our seniors is fortunately in strong regression "with 73% of users while 10 years ago only 26% of the elderly were connected including 14% of the over 70 years. "This significant increase should not obscure the fact that the rate of non-use of the Internet for this category of the population is 15% higher than the average for the French.
  • "Those who do not use the Internet find themselves increasingly excluded from the rapid digitization of our society, including the youngest age groups, such as the 60-69 year olds, who are still numerous non-users.
  • The great excluded from the digital world are more women over 80 years old, living alone, with low incomes.
  • The feeling of exclusion is also felt by nearly ¼ of those aged 60 and over, including Internet users for whom the use can make them aware of shortcomings. This overall feeling of exclusion affects all age categories.

Whatever your age, when you are an Internet user, you regularly use digital technology

This result "goes against the conventional wisdom that suggests that older people do not use the Internet. When our seniors are connected, on the contrary, they regularly use digital technology, including the oldest among them.
  • 83% of Internet users aged 60 and over go online at least once a day.
  • Regular use continues beyond the age of 80, with 78% of 80-84 year olds and 76% of 85 year olds and over.
  • "The advancement in old age does not imply a significant decrease in the use of digital technology.

Digital technology, a vector of social ties for 61% of Internet users aged 60 and over

The benefits of the Internet for maintaining connections were well understood by connected seniors.
  • 61% of Internet users aged 60 and over use the Internet to maintain links with family and friends. This is the usage that comes first and is extremely beneficial to the over 80s.
  • Contacts are regular, since 67% of Internet users aged 60 and over have contact with their family at least several times a month and nearly half once or several times a week.
  • 64% have contact with friends at least several times a month.
  • Access to many sources of information is also favored by 60% of respondents who are Internet users or who go online.
  • For online administrative procedures or online shopping, only 34% of Internet users over 60 years old use the Internet to save time in their procedures compared to 66% of Internet users in general (Digital Barometer 2017).
  • The use of video calls, social networks or online games is in the minority.
  • "Digital exclusion has become an aggravating factor in relational isolation. In a context of changing family relationships linked to new lifestyles and economic mobility, the Internet allows people to maintain social ties. Being deprived of it is therefore a factor of isolation".

Internet users or not, online procedures are a problem.

Nearly a third of people aged 60 and over have already given up on doing something online.
  • The procedures that are most frequently abandoned are those related to taxes (30%), social benefits from pension funds, health insurance, CAF (26%) and car ownership (28%).
  • For the compulsory teledeclaration of income in 2019, 39% of those aged 60 and over intend to ask for help, 25% of whom will ask someone close to them and 12% by going directly to the counter of the tax center. 5% of those surveyed do not know how they will do it.
  • Seniors who are Internet users also have difficulty with this type of process.

Lack of interest, a major barrier for those 60 years and older who do not use the Internet.

The lack of or poor command of digital technology is of course a major obstacle: 59% of non-Internet users over 60 years old believe that the Internet is too complicated and 47% do not know how to use it.
  • The main reason given by our seniors to explain their non-use of the internet is the feeling of its uselessness expressed by 68% of non-internet users aged 60 and over ( 6% for the population as a whole according to the Digital Barometer 2017).
  • Only 11% of non-Internet-using seniors would like to receive learning support.
  • The feeling of exclusion or the experience of giving up on an online process is a greater motivation to be helped by 30% and 22% of non-internet users respectively.
  • Price remains a major barrier for people with modest incomes (54%).
  • The fear of data piracy is slightly more important than in the rest of the population. 41% of non-Internet users aged 60 and over consider piracy to be a hindrance, compared with 34% of the general population.

Learning about digital technology by "doing it yourself" or thanks to family solidarity

  • Only slightly more than a third of those 60 and older have received assistance or training in digital tools.
  • Family solidarity plays an important role since 18% of people aged 60 and over declare having received help or training from their children or grandchildren and 9% from another family member. This help is considered valuable and satisfactory by 94% of those who received it.
  • This rate remains high regardless of the age of the learner.

Recommendations from the study

Improving digital access

Reduce territorial inequalities by prioritizing white zones that exclude and penalize Internet users and people who are farthest from the digital world, especially in rural areas where public services and shops are being cut off.Making digital equipment accessible
  • Encourage companies to recondition the computer equipment they no longer use to give it to the digitally excluded. Inspired by the law on food waste or the upcoming law on clothing waste.
  • Continue to encourage operators to offer a social rate for the connection subscription. For people with low incomes, investing in digital equipment and a connection remains a major obstacle. For people who are already equipped, the cost of renewing obsolete equipment is also important.
  • To help with the installation of the equipment so as not to discourage the less expert public and to propose free and adapted local assistance services with a human contact.
Promote digital uses
  • Change the way we look at our seniors. Advancing age should not be synonymous with ineptitude, loss of faculties and disinterest in new technologies. Let's stop considering people, especially the elderly, as a "lost generation" that will never be interested in digital tools and the digitalization of society. 
  • Do not reduce digital use to access to rights and associate Internet with the pleasure of using it. For many people, digital technology is becoming synonymous with constraints and unpleasant use, which leads to situations of failure. However, digital technology offers many possibilities, including the maintenance of social links.
  • Install a "web-friendly" universe in the daily life of the elderly. Installing a facilitating context in places frequented by the elderly (including collective places such as EHPAD or USLD) is essential to allow them to access and take an interest in digital tools. 
  • Make our seniors "want to want to": By carefully assessing their needs, expectations, sources of interest and obstacles.
  • To train the elderly who wish to do so with a personalized approach and to promote their autonomy. It is essential to base the approach on their interests. And it is essential not to generate a kind of "institutionalized loss of autonomy" by only offering assistance by doing "instead of".
  • Launch a large-scale national plan to combat the digital exclusion of the elderly, led by the public authorities.
  • Respecting the choice of those who are reluctant and guaranteeing them, as well as people whose difficulties (disability, illness, illiteracy, etc.) will not allow them to access the digital system, human support, so as not to create inequalities in access to rights.
  • End the complexity of e-government and service sites.
  • Preserve the citizen participation of the digitally excluded and allow them to speak out on social issues. 
  • Strengthen the legal framework to secure people seeking help and their "digital caregivers" regarding data protection, privacy, and risk of error.

    • Référence :

Sources

Labo Société Numérique

Labo République Française Agence nationale de cohésion des territoires
27% of people aged 60 and over are digitally excluded