Americans are split in their views of how much a lack of access hurts non-users. The worst disadvantage they cited related to job opportunities and career-improvement skills.
In order to evaluate the importance that Americans place on a high-speed internet connection, we asked all of our survey respondents (including broadband users, dial-up users and non-internet users) whether individuals who do not have access to high speed internet access at home are at a disadvantage when it comes to different aspects of modern life. In all of the examples we gave, a majority of respondents said they thought lack of broadband access was a “minor disadvantage” or “not a disadvantage” to doing the activities.
Generally, Americans view those without broadband access as being most disadvantaged when it comes to job and career opportunities. Some 43% of Americans feel that individuals who do not have broadband at home are at a major disadvantage when it comes to finding out about job opportunities or learning career skills, with an additional 23% saying that a lack of broadband access is a minor disadvantage in this regard. Other areas where a lack of broadband is seen as a relatively significant disadvantage include:
- Getting health information (34% of Americans see a lack of broadband access as a major disadvantage to getting this type of information)
- Learning new things that might improve or enrich one’s life (31%)
- Using government services (29%)
In other areas, a lack of broadband access is seen as less of a disadvantage. Nearly half of Americans feel that individuals without broadband access are not at a disadvantage when it comes to keeping up with news and information (47% say this) and keeping up with what is happening in one’s local community (45%).
