Abstract
BackgroundInternet access is increasingly critical for adolescents with regard to obtaining health information and resources, participating in web-based health promotion, and communicating with health practitioners. However, past work demonstrates that access is not uniform among youth in the United States, with lower access found among groups with higher health-related needs. Population-level data yield important insights about access and internet use in the United States.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to examine internet access and mode of access by social class and race and ethnicity among youth (aged 14-17 years) in the United States.MethodsUsing the Current Population Survey, we examined internet access, cell phone or smartphone access, and modes of connecting to the internet for adolescents in 2015 (unweighted N=6950; expanded weights N=17,103,547) and 2017 (unweighted N=6761; expanded weights N=17,379,728).ResultsInternet access increased from 2015 to 2017, but socioeconomic status (SES) and racial and ethnic disparities remained. In 2017, the greatest disparities were found for youth in low-income households (no home access=23%) and for Black youth (no home access=18%) and Hispanic youth (no home access=14%). Low-income Black and Hispanic youth were the most likely to lack home internet access (no home access, low SES Black youth=29%; low SES Hispanic youth=21%). The mode of access (eg, from home and smartphone) and smartphone-only analyses also revealed disparities.ConclusionsWithout internet access, web-based dissemination of information, health promotion, and health care will not reach a significant segment of youth. Currently, SES and racial and ethnic disparities in access prolong health inequalities. Moreover, the economic impact of COVID-19 on Black, Hispanic, and low-income communities may lead to losses in internet access for youth that will further exacerbate disparities.
Highlights
Access to the internet is increasingly critical for adolescents with regard to health, employment, and education [1,2,3,4,5,6,7].the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fundamental importance of web-based access when in-person channels of communication are blocked [2,8]
Without internet access, web-based dissemination of information, health promotion, and health care will not reach a significant segment of youth
To report on internet access, we examined the proportion of youth residing in households that have internet connection and the proportion of youth residing in households in which an adolescent, aged 14-17 years, has a cell phone or smartphone
Summary
Access to the internet is increasingly critical for adolescents with regard to health, employment, and education [1,2,3,4,5,6,7].the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fundamental importance of web-based access when in-person channels of communication are blocked [2,8]. Given that health-related conditions (eg, obesity, diabetes, and sexually transmitted infections) disproportionately impact low-income and racial and ethnic minority youth [14,15,16], access may be important for these groups Those with intermittent, limited, or no access to the internet will be disadvantaged because their ability to benefit from web-based health-related resources and programs, job searches, and educational activities will be lower than among those who have stable internet access [17,18,19,20,21]. Rapid increases in internet access have been attained over the past decade; US national household data from the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS) have demonstrated that we have yet to achieve the goal of universal access to the internet [22] They document continued disparities in access for Black and Hispanic people, low-income households, and those in rural areas [23]. Population-level data yield important insights about access and internet use in the United States
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