Brookings: income remains a barrier to broadband adoption

A Brookings analysis of 2014 American Community Survey data shows the large disparity in broadband Internet adoption between higher- and lower-income households. More than 75 percent of the country had a high-speed Internet subscription in 2014, but that trend doesn’t hold equally along all income levels: households earning $75,000 or more annually are twice as likely (92 percent) to have a broadband subscription as households earning under $10,000 each year (46 percent).

The report concludes: “With gaps of at least 30 percentage points between some income groups,” the study concludes, “it could take over a decade at current rates to achieve more even adoption across all U.S. households.”

Brookings’ analysis reiteratespoints made by Speed Matters: high costs are the main barrier to broadband adoption and the FCC has a responsibility to close the adoption gap – for example, by modernizing the Lifeline program – to ensure fair and equal access to modern communications services for all American households.

Income disparities holding back U.S. internet adoption (The Brookings Institution, Nov. 18, 2015)

Expand Lifeline to include broadband (Speed Matters, Mar. 16, 2015)