The information aged: Older adults ’ use of information and communications technology in

Social commentators are beginning to recognise that encouraging older adults ’ use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is an essential prerequisite for (over)developed countries such as the United Kingdom becoming bone fide information societies. To date, however, few studies have examined older adults ’ access to and use of ICTs in detail. This important aspect of the interaction between population ageing and societal change is more complex than the existing literature’s portrayal of a dichotomy between ‘successful users ’ and ‘unsuccessful non-users’. We still know little, for example, about the reasons and motivations underlying older adults ’ adoption or non-adoption of ICTs. We also know little about the nature of this use and the support which older adults draw upon regarding ICTs. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we know little about the outcomes and ‘life-fit ’ of older adults ’ (non)use of ICTs. The paper examines the extent and nature of ICT access and use by older adults in their everyday lives through two sources of data: (i) information collected from a sub-sample of 352 adults aged over sixty years taken from a large household survey of ICT use in England and Wales amon