User:Amchu24/Digital divide in the United States

Outline and Further Suggestions

Here is an outline of the digital divide article edits for better reference. I edited the sections I indicated in bold and included notes on what I added/changed.

• Lead
  • Added statistic for last decade digital divide context (from Census). Added a sentence about NTIA since they are already mentioned.
• 1Demographic breakdown
  • Leading paragraph
    • Introductory paragraph to make the section flow better - reiterating the internet access gaps and different types of demographics.
  • 1.1Gender
  • 1.2Age
  • 1.3Race and ethnicity
    • Made several minor organizational, grammar, and accuracy checks. (For more detail, see "Minor Edits" section in this sandbox.)
    • Added statistics
  • 1.4States and Regions
    • Added statistic about Native American reservations and general statistic of rural divide
  • 1.5Income
    • Added statistic from Pew Research Center.
  • 1.6Educational attainment
  • 1.7Reasons given for trends and gaps
• 2Means of connectivity
  • 2.1Infrastructure
  • 2.2Location
• 3Purpose of connectivity
  • Moved relevant racial statistics to 1.3Race and ethnicity
  • Moved paragraph from Digital divide#Education (italicized)
• 4Lack of connectivity
  • Clarified that this section is about the implications of digital access (affect on mental health, disability access, etc.), but some information could be merged with the "Demographic breakdown" section
  • Incorporated Education section in digital divide because it was primarily from the US (will leave comment on the Talk page to say that it was moved over)
• 5Overcoming the digital divide in the United States
  • 5.1Information infrastructure
    • Added Public-Private partnerships sub-section
    • Added municipal broadband as sub-section
    • Highlighted city case studies
  • 5.2Notable Initiatives
    • Added fiscal policies to update what type of investment has gone in in 2020/2021, especially because of the pandemic.
• 6Implications
  • 6.1Social capital
  • 6.2Economic gains
• 7See also
• 8References

Content Draft: Digital divide in the United States

Bibliography sandbox

Lead

NTIA defined the digital divide as "one of America's leading economic and civil rights issues" in their 1999 report "Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide" (1999). Digital access has risen steadily over the past decade, increasing by 11 percent since 2009, though the digital divide exists between varying demographics based on region, age, race, disability, etc.

According to Census data, 18% of households used the internet in 1997 and this usage increased to 62% in 2007 and 73% in 2015.

Article Body: Demographic Differences

1. Leading paragraph (added)

Global context: Digital divide and the Digital divide by continent, area and country.

As of June 2020, NTIA reports that 4 out of 5 Americans have internet access. While internet access has increased in the past couple decades, there are disparities between demographic factors such as geography (urban versus rural), gender, age, race, class, and disability. In 2021, the Pew Research Center reported that 7% of Americans, approximately 23 million people, do not use the Internet and 23% do not have access to a broadband connection at home.

1.4States and Regions

Overall, in 2015, over 75% of urban Americans used the internet in comparison to 67% of rural Americans. The geographic disparities intertwine with racial disparities. In those rural areas, Native Americans have a 67% broadband internet subscription rate as opposed to 82% for non-Native American individuals. Moreover, Native Americans living on Native American land had 53%.

1.5Income

In terms of income disparities, the Pew Research Center reported that 44% of adults in households with incomes below $30,000 do not have broadband access.

3Purpose of connectivity

See also in Education section: digital divide

The digital divide also impacts children's ability to learn and grow in low-income school districts. Without Internet access, students are unable to cultivate necessary tech skills in order to understand today's dynamic economy. The need for the internet starts while children are in school – necessary for matters such as school portal access, homework submission, and assignment research. Federal Communication Commission's Broadband Task Force created a report showing that about 70% of teachers give students homework that demand access to broadband. Even more, approximately 65% of young scholars use the Internet at home to complete assignments as well as connect with teachers and other students via discussion boards and shared files.  A recent study indicates that practically 50% of students say that they are unable to finish their homework due to an inability to either connect to the Internet or in some cases, find a computer. This has led to a new revelation: 42% of students say they received a lower grade because of this disadvantage. Finally, according to research conducted by the Center for American Progress, "if the United States were able to close the educational achievement gaps between native-born white children and black and Hispanic children, the U.S. economy would be 5.8 percent—or nearly $2.3 trillion—larger in 2050".

In the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital divide has been exacerbated since workplaces, schools, telehealth, and more have transitioned online. A pulse survey in November 2020 reported that for almost 80 percent of 2000 respondents aged 18+ in the US and UK internet has become more important in their lives as a result of the pandemic.

4Lack of connectivity

Bach et. al in “Poverty, Literacy, and Social Transformation” state that technological exclusion is inherently tied to sociology exclusion and that addressing educational equity initiatives must relate to solving the larger poverty systems. In the political lens where digital access is a right, participatory citizenship in the digital era involves the right to participate in higher education, not just access.

5Overcoming the digital divide in the United States

5.1Information infrastructure

Public-Private partnerships

Private-public partnerships often present as income-targeted programs, like with Comcast Internet Essentials and cities like Philadelphia. Internet Essentials is a price plan offered to every low-income family with school-age children who qualify for free school lunch as well as low-income seniors and low-income veterans.

To expand internet affordability, cities will work with private partners, although there is debate over this approach due to concerns for private sector dominance and monopolies. Internet Essentials is a popular program by Comcast that champions affordability for low-income residents, but the large Internet Service Provider (ISP) has sued cities for attempting to start their own city-owned broadband network. A 2020 article reported that 22 states had substantive legal roadblocks to establishing municipal or government-owned broadband networks. This can be connected to the national dispute over net neutrality, the principle that ISPs should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.

State Networks

In 2013, 2,000 cities had public electric utilities, 400 had any kind of public broadband network, and only 150 had fiber optic networks. While, it is not as common to find fully municipally-owned power or broadband, there are cities like the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the first high-speed fiber-optic broadband network. The City started its own fiber-optic network in 2013, leveraging the existing capacity of its City energy company, the Electric Power Board, for deployment. Some propose that broadband can be treated like a public good, a non-rival and nonexclusive resource in which everyone can access it.

Municipally-owned broadband networks still have the possibility for public-private partnerships. For example, municipalities could lease publicly-owned fiber networks to private ISPs and provide individual strands of fiber and ask ISPs to pay upfront costs for fiber construction with a small operating cost. Similarly, the City can serve as a middle-mile/last-mile provider, where they lease space on the fiber network to other vendors who then offer commercial broadband services directly to the customer. This theory of this can be exemplified in city-provided public Wi-Fi, implemented in Cities like San Leandro. The City of San Leandro has a fiber network from a License Agreement with San Leandro Dark Fiber that is approximately 14 miles of conduit and fiber strands throughout the city. In exchange, the City has ownership of 10 percent of the fiber installed by San Leandro Dark Fiber. In addition to this, San Leandro partners with over 100 ISPs to provide competitive leasing.

5.2Notable Initiatives

In 2020, federal fiscal commitments include the Consolidated Appropriations Act passed on December 27, 2020, which is a $7 billion fund for broadband initiatives under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. Additionally, in March 2020, the Federal Communications Commission created the Keep Americans Connected Pledge for broadband and telephone service providers to ensure that Americans do not lose their broadband or telephone connectivity due to COVID-19 circumstances.

Minor Edits

These are my edits of the existing article – mostly minor and citation, grammar, or organizational related. There are also some general notes for clarity that added to the Talk page.

Last sentence in lead

"Although the digital divide in America has decreased considerably, there are still certain groups of Americans with limited access, with correlations to race, income, geographic location, and age. [7]"

[7] "Digital divide decreasing but not gone". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-09-22.

• Sentence implies that the digital divide has decrease considerably, which is a non-specific claim that can not be backed up without a reliable source
• News outlet articles are not a reliable source, USA TODAY especially

Edit

"Digital access has steadily risen over the past decade, increasing by 11 percent since 2009, though the digital divide exists between varying demographics based on region, age, race, disability, etc. " [7]

[7] National Telecommunications & Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce (2020). NTIA Data Reveal Shifts in Technology Use, Persistent Digital Divide. Washington, D.C. Retrieved https://www.ntia.doc.gov/blog/2020/ntia-data-reveal-shifts-technology-use-persistent-digital-divide

Attached Comment

• The original sentence implied that the digital divide has decrease considerably, which is a non-specific claim that can not be backed up without a reliable source. The news outlet article by USA Today is not reliable, so I switched it with the 2020 National Telecommunications and Information Administration study.
• Added statistic from survey by NTIA – increasing by 11 percent since 2009

See also

• Added Wikipedia articles included in Digital divide

Means of Connectivity: Location

"According to the American Library Association (ALA), 98% of public libraries in the United States in 2015 offered free wi-fi."

• Remove because it does not support previous sentences about the digital divide being a barrier because students rely on public libraries. Or could modify sentence to note how other places lack wifi access in comparison.

Demographic breakdown

• Pulled from Wikipedia "digital divide"
  • "Overall, 10% of all Americans do not have access to high-speed Internet, an equivalent of almost 34 million people. [100]"
• Added original sentence for context
  • For global context: Digital divide and the Digital divide by continent, area and country."

Demographic breakdown: Race and Ethnicity

Edit

• Moved racial statistics from "Purpose of connectivity" section to demographic breakdown: Race and Ethnicity for better flow.
• Grammar changes for clarity and neutrality (removing words like 'virtually nothing')
• Changing language like 'Blacks' to 'African American' for both consistency in article, accuracy with data collection/surveys, and correctness.
• E.g. modified to "In 2019, the ownership to smartphones by race/ethnicity was 82% of Whites, 79% of Hispanics, and 80% of African Americans. "
• Consolidated paragraph discussing smartphone access across demographics. Added leading sentence giving context to why it relates to the digital divide.
  • "The digital divide can be displayed when individuals must use smartphones in the absence of access to other devices. 41% of African Americans and 47% of English-speaking Hispanics send and receive email on cell phones, as compared to 30% of Whites. Significant differences between the racial groups include sending and receiving instant messages, using social networking sites, watching videos, and posting photos or videos online. In 2019, the ownership to smartphones by race/ethnicity was 82% of Whites, 79% of Hispanics, and 80% of African Americans."

For Reference Only (Pasted)

Looking at US specific information from general article: Digital divide

Economic gap in the United States[edit]

During the mid-1990s, the US Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) began publishing reports about the Internet and access to and usage of the resource. The first of three reports is entitled "Falling Through the Net: A Survey of the 'Have Nots' in Rural and Urban America" (1995),[56] the second is "Falling Through the Net II: New Data on the Digital Divide" (1998), [57] and the final report "Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide" (1999).[58] The NTIA's final report attempted clearly to define the term digital divide; "the digital divide—the divide between those with access to new technologies and those without—is now one of America's leading economic and civil rights issues. This report will help clarify which Americans are falling further behind so that we can take concrete steps to redress this gap." [58] Since the introduction of the NTIA reports, much of the early, relevant literature began to reference the NTIA's digital divide definition. The digital divide is commonly defined as being between the "haves" and "have-nots." [58] [59] The economic gap really comes into play when referring to the older generations.

[56] National Telecommunications & Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. (1995). Falling through the net: A survey of the'have nots' in rural and urban America. Washington, D.C. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fallingthru.html

[57] National Telecommunications & Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. (1998). Falling through the net II: New data on the digital divide. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.ntia.doc.gov/report/1998/falling-through-net-ii-new-data-digital-divide

[58] National Telecommunications & Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. (1999). Falling through the net: Defining the digital divide. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.ntia.doc.gov/report/1999/falling-through-net-defining-digital-divide

[59] National Telecommunications & Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. (1995). Falling through the net: A survey of the'have nots' in rural and urban America. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fallingthru.html

Economic disparity[edit]

In the United States, the research provided by Sungard Availability Services notes a direct correlation between a company's access to technological advancements and its overall success in bolstering the economy. [94] The study, which includes over 2,000 IT executives and staff officers, indicates that 69 percent of employees feel they do not have access to sufficient technology in order to make their jobs easier, while 63 percent of them believe the lack of technological mechanisms hinders their ability to develop new work skills. [94] Additional analysis provides more evidence to show how the digital divide also affects the economy in places all over the world. A BCG report suggests that in countries like Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K., the digital connection among communities is made easier, allowing for their populations to obtain a much larger share of the economies via digital business. [95] In fact, in these places, populations hold shares approximately 2.5 percentage points higher. [95] During a meeting with the United Nations a Bangladesh representative expressed his concern that poor and undeveloped countries would be left behind due to a lack of funds to bridge the digital gap.[96]

[94] McKendrick, Joe. "Lack Of Digital, Cloud Opportunities Is Actually Embarrassing For Employees, Survey Suggests". Forbes. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

[95] Foroohar, Rana. "The Real Threat to Economic Growth Is the Digital Divide". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

[96] "Closing Digital Divide Critical to Social, Economic Development, Delegates Say at Second Committee Debate on Information and Communications Technologies | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Retrieved September 26, 2017.

Education[edit]

The digital divide also impacts children's ability to learn and grow in low-income school districts. Without Internet access, students are unable to cultivate necessary tech skills in order to understand today's dynamic economy. [97] Federal Communication Commission's Broadband Task Force created a report showing that about 70% of teachers give students homework that demand access to broadband. [98] Even more, approximately 65% of young scholars use the Internet at home to complete assignments as well as connect with teachers and other students via discussion boards and shared files. [98] A recent study indicates that practically 50% of students say that they are unable to finish their homework due to an inability to either connect to the Internet or in some cases, find a computer. [98] This has led to a new revelation: 42% of students say they received a lower grade because of this disadvantage. [98] Finally, according to research conducted by the Center for American Progress, "if the United States were able to close the educational achievement gaps between native-born white children and black and Hispanic children, the U.S. economy would be 5.8 percent—or nearly $2.3 trillion—larger in 2050". [99]

In a reverse of this idea, well-off families, especially the tech-savvy parents in Silicon Valley, carefully limit their own children's screen time. The children of wealthy families attend play-based preschool programs that emphasize social interaction instead of time spent in front of computers or other digital devices, and they pay to send their children to schools that limit screen time. [75] American families that cannot afford high-quality childcare options are more likely to use tablet computers filled with apps for children as a cheap replacement for a babysitter, and their government-run schools encourage screen time during school. [75]

[97] "Digital Divide: The Technology Gap between the Rich and Poor". Digital Responsibility. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

[98] The Homework Gap: The 'Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide'". NEA Today. April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

• Unsure about the appropriateness of this source – from the National Education Association, but written like a news article/blog post.

[99] "The Digital Divide in the Age of the Connected Classroom | NetRef". NetRef. January 14, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

[75] Bowles, Nellie (October 26, 2018). "The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids Is Not What We Expected". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 8, 2019.

Demographic differences[edit]

This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2019)

Furthermore, according to the 2012 Pew Report "Digital Differences," a mere 62% of households who make less than $30,000 a year use the Internet, while 90% of those making between $50,000 and $75,000 had access. [97] Studies also show that only 51% of Hispanics and 49% of African Americans have high-speed Internet at home. This is compared to the 66% of Caucasians that too have high-speed Internet in their households. [97] Overall, 10% of all Americans do not have access to high-speed Internet, an equivalent of almost 34 million people. [100] The digital divide exists differently in different regions of the world; for more, see Digital divide by continent, area and country. Supplemented reports from The Guardian demonstrate the global effects of limiting technological developments in poorer nations, rather than simply the effects in the United States. Their study shows that rapid digital expansion excludes those who find themselves in the lower class. 60% of the world's population, almost 4 billion people, have no access to the Internet and are thus left worse off. [100]

[97] "Digital Divide: The Technology Gap between the Rich and Poor". Digital Responsibility. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

[100] Elliott, Larry (January 13, 2016). "Spread of internet has not conquered 'digital divide' between rich and poor – report". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

[101] Kang, Cecilia (June 7, 2016). "The Challenges of Closing the Digital Divide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 17,2017.