Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative Shows Narrowing of Digital Divide

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative revealed through recent polling that the digital divide continues to narrow. Between 2011 and 2013, the number of Philadelphia adults with Internet access increased from 76 percent to 82 percent.

The polling also shows that the number of people who access the Internet via their cell phones increased from just under 50 percent in 2011 to 65 percent in 2013. The majority of adults who access what Pew calls the “mobile Internet” are between the ages of 18 and 34, suggesting that young people with mobile devices are driving the increase.

Thomas Ginsberg, project manager of the Philadelphia Research Initiative, explained that Pew did not isolate the driver of the overall increase in Internet access. While access to the Internet via home computers and mobile devices may have played a role in the increase, he did note that a national report by Pew found that mobile devices play an increasingly central role in providing Internet access.

“Given Philly’s demographic profile, particularly its low-income and young users, we figure – and our national researchers concur – that the same forces are at work in Philly,” Ginsburg said.

With permission from Pew, here are some graphs on the data:

The full set of graphs is available here.

(Photos via Pew Charitable Trusts)