I keep commenting on the problem of Digital Exclusion and the fact that by stopping publication of its magazine to every household, the Council has been discriminating against those who are digitally excluded.
A new report by the social enterprise organisation Promising Trouble states that the cost of broadband is rising for everyone, but for low income households the rise in expenditure is steeper than for everyone else: a nearly 4% rise for poorer households compared to 0.04% for the richest.
‘Although there are cheaper, social tariffs available from many broadband providers, they unfortunately don’t solve the affordability challenge. The research looked at different types of households on a low income, including those receiving in-work benefits, pension credit and disability benefits. Even on a social tariff all of them would be spending a bigger chunk of their disposable income than the average household on broadband. An estimated 2.4m people struggle to afford broadband but aren’t eligible for a social tariff, normally because they are not receiving a qualifying benefit. Promising Trouble says this affordability gap, in which the cost of social tariffs is still too high, and huge numbers of people aren’t even eligible for one, represents a failure of the broadband market to meet the needs of millions of consumers. It creates and deepens inequalities and puts additional burdens on households and families who are already under significant pressure.
https://www.promisingtrouble.net/blog/the-real-cost-of-home-broadband
Promising Trouble is also working with Impact on Urban Health on how access to the internet impacts health and wellbeing.
Community Connectivity
BT commissioned Frontier Economics to use Government data sets to analyse the household income level, and therefore affordability of connectivity, for individuals eligible for their broadband social tariff. BT wanted to explore the possibility that for some of those eligible, household income is too low to even be able to afford a social tariff. The report, published in August found that one million (11%) eligible individuals live in low income households that cannot afford any connectivity, even lower priced social tariffs. Most in this position (73%) are of working age but not in work and receive all of their income from Government sources. (From ESAH Newsletter October)
Digital Inclusion in Croydon 2015/6
Towards the end of 2015 Croydon Council produced a report on digital inclusion. The statistics were very revealing.
- 46% of adults had not used their digital skills in the previous 3 months.
- 10% of adults in Croydon have never been online
This led me to ask several questions.
- What percentage of adults use their digital skills at libraries because they do not have computers/laptops/notebooks?
- What % of adults do not have smart phones?
- What percentage of Croydon households do have broadband connection?
- What are the geographic differences between wards, bearing in mind those areas with higher levels of inequalities are most likely to be on the wrong side of the digital divide?
- How many of the 120,000 sign ups to My Account are from residents, Croydon based businesses, and residents and business elsewhere?
- How many of the 120,000 sign ups to My Account are from residents in the same household?
- How many households are in the 120,000 sign ups?
- Is there a ward analysis of the residents/households who are signed up?
It would be interesting to know what the current statistics would reveal. A further report 2016 report showed:
- 85,000 adults in Croydon do not have basic digital skills
- 35%of C2DE (skilled working class; skilled manual workers, working class; semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers and non working; casual or lowest grade workers pensioners and other who depend on the welfare state for their income.) lack basic digital skills
- 40%of low income households lack basic digital skills (compared to just 8% of high income households)
- 64%of over 65s lack basic digital skills
In the light of the cost of living crisis and the two reports discussed about I wonder what the current statistical information is.
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