The elderly do not cease to bring down barriers and, with this, the labels of incapacity and uselessness that obscure the natural aging of people. Despite the fact that a few years ago the data made it clear that the majority of those over 65 had no clue about new technologies, this reality is changing by leaps and bounds. So much so, that in 2023 Spaniards aged between 65 and 75 will surpass their European colleagues in the use of the internet, and the older ones have stepped on the accelerator to reduce the digital gap.
According to a study carried out by the Networked Aging team of the CSIC (Ana Belén Castillo Belmonte, Julio Pérez Díaz and Diego Ramiro Fariñas), published in December, “80.1% of people between 65 and 74 years old they used the internet in 2023, compared to 1.5% who used it in 2002. But since 2019, Spaniards of this age use the internet more than those of the same age in the euro zone and, in addition, those over 75 show a very pronounced upward trend in the use of this type of technology”.
And this progress has a lot to do with women. “The gender gap in the use of the internet ended in 2022, when women very slightly surpassed men in percentage of use (76.4%, compared to 76.5%). If we compare the data with those of the euro zone, a turning point can be observed from 2019, with a marked difference in favor of Spanish women (76.5%) compared to European women (67.9%)” , point out the researchers of Network Aging, with data taken from the latest Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Homes by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The explanation for this remarkable reduction in the digital divide has to do, according to the researchers, with the progressive arrival at these ages of people who had previously used the internet. Also for the improvement of the digital infrastructure, networks and access to devices and the “accelerated learning as a result of the covid pandemic”.
The remarkable increase in the number of people aged 65 to 74 who make use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is observed in the evolution from 2006 to 2023. In 2006 less than half used a telephone mobile, since it rose to 96.3% last year. Another example is online shopping, which has gone from 0.7% to almost 25% among seniors who have used this system in the last three months, explains the CISC team.
Among pensioners, the increasing frequency in the use of ICT is also evident and it stands out that almost 70% use the internet daily (given that it is 90% in the population as a whole).
And those older than 75? Although the digital divide is wider, it continues to narrow, as it has gone from a percentage of 31.8% who used the internet regularly in 2021 to 40.8% last year.
The services most used by people between the ages of 75 and 84 are instant messaging (45.1% use it), reading news, newspapers or magazines (31.3%) or making phone calls and video calls over the Internet ( 29.6%). The percentages are considerably reduced for those over 85 years old, “but it is remarkable that 12.4% of this group use instant messaging and almost 10% telephone, make calls via the Internet or read news in line”, points out this study, which also points out that a quarter of those aged between 75 and 84 use online banking, and in the group over 85, almost 4%.
For the group over 75 years of age, it is observed that as the level of education increases, so does the percentage of individuals who use the internet. More than 80% of individuals who completed their university studies use this technology, compared to 15% of users with less than primary education. “The level of income works in the same direction and, the higher the level of income, the higher the percentage of people who use this technology,” indicate the researchers.
But is using the internet the same as having digital skills? Obviously not. But this difference between the two concepts can also be applied to adults in general. According to this work, although the age gap in internet consumption is clearly narrowing, the gap in digital skills is still remarkable. The 2023 data shows that 59% of people aged between 65 and 74 have low, reduced, limited or no digital skills, compared to 41% who have this type of ability, either basic or advanced.
“If the type of skill is taken into account, 82% of individuals aged between 65 and 74 have advanced skills in communication and collaboration, and 66.1% in information and data literacy. On the other side are the skills of creating digital content, in which almost half of the users do not have this kind of knowledge. There are also deficiencies in issues related to security and resolution of inconveniences”, the study details.
