Is There a Digital Divide? Ethnic and Racial Differences in Access to Technology and Possible Explanations, Final Report to the

In recent years, a plethora of public and private programs in the United States have been created to close the "Digital Divide. " Interestingly, however, we know very little about the underlying causes of racial differences in rates of computer and Internet use. Using data from the Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the September 2001 Current Population Survey (CPS), I document and explore the underlying causes of ethnic and racial differences in home computer and Internet use. The Supplement to the CPS, which is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, contains detailed information on computer and Internet use by individuals not found in other government data sources. In this report, I examine whether ethnic and racial differences in the most likely "suspects "-- family income, education, occupation, and family structure-- have independent effects on disparities in home computer and Internet use. To date, we know very little about the importance of these potential causes. The main findings are: • The Digital Divide is large and does not appear to be disappearing soon. Blacks and Latinos are much less likely to have access to home computers than are white, non-Latinos (42.0 and 41.8 percent compared to 66.3 percent). They are also less likely to use the Internet at home (27.1 and 22.7 percent compared to 50.0 percent). • Asians have home computer and Internet use rates that are higher than white, non