Internet Changes Everything

Poorer people closing PC gap

By TERRY WEBER
Globe and Mail Update Four out of five Canadian households now have a personal computer, and while a disparity still exists, those with lower incomes are closing the ownership gap, a new survey suggested Wednesday.

The study, conducted by research firm ACNielsen, said 81 per cent of Canadian households now own at least one computer, up from 78 per cent in 2003.

The biggest gains, the survey said, were made by low-income and older households.

According to the findings, households with annual incomes below $20,000 saw a 5-per-cent increase in computer ownership from last year. Sixty-three of households in that bracket now have PCs, compared with 58 per cent year earlier.

On the other end of the spectrum, 93 per cent of households with incomes over $70,000 had computers, up from 91 per cent in 2003.

“While disparities in PC ownership still exist, decreasing prices are making computers much more affordable for those at even the lowest end of the income spectrum,” Sharon Skurnac, senior director of consumer marketing for ACNielsen Canada, said in the report.

By age, the biggest increase was seen in households headed by someone in the 5- to-64 bracket, with ownership rising 6 per cent to 81 per cent in 2004.

The highest overall ownership percentage, however, was in the 35-to-44 group. Eight-seven per cent of households headed by a person in that age range had a PC.

The findings were based on a survey of 10,000 households, conducted in the first quarter of this year.

The study also found that computer upgrades accounted for much of the PC purchase activity. About half of the households that own a computer said the PC they most recently purchased was a replacement for an older model.

Fifteen per cent said it was an additional PC for the home, and 25 per cent said it was a first-time purchase.

About 69 per cent of households also reported spending more time on the computer than they did a year earlier. More than three-quarters of PC-owning households use their computers mostly for e-mail.

June 24, 2004 at 01:49 PM in Web lifestyle | Permalink | TrackBack (15) | Top of page | Blog Home