Are We Really a Nation Online? Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Access to Technology and Their Consequences
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund - September 20, 2005
Using data from the Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the October 2003 Current Population Survey (CPS), I examine whether there are large ethnic and racial differences in home access to computers, the Internet and broadband in the United States. 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 access by individuals not found in other government data sources. The October 2003 data are the most recent available, and the next supplement to the CPS is not scheduled for a couple of years. Estimates from the CPS indicate that there is a large and substantial digital divide currently existing in the United States and raises serious doubts as to whether we are truly a "Nation Online."
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