Household Access to the Internet
The information in this article has been extracted from the report "The Digital Divide" (Statistics NZ, 2004). Findings include:
- Income is the most important variable in determining the dispersal of new communication technologies like the Internet (that is, the proportion of dwellings with Internet access generally increases with total household income).
- Highest qualification was the second most important variable. Households where at least one person aged 15 years and over had a university degree were the most likely to be connected (68 percent), followed by those with a vocational qualification (46 percent) and school qualification (34 percent). Twelve percent of households where no one had a qualification were connected to the Internet.
- Household composition was the third most important variable. Households consisting of a couple plus children had the highest levels of Internet access (55 percent). One-person households were the least likely to be connected at only 16 percent.
- The level of household Internet access generally declined with the increasing age of the youngest person. Households with a youngest occupant in the age group 10-14 years were the most likely to have access to the Internet (56 percent).
- Households containing at least one person of Asian ethnicity at the 2001 Census had the highest level of Internet access, with 58 percent of households connected, whereas households with Pacific people were less than half as likely (23 percent) to be connected to the Internet.
- Households with at least one occupant in full-time employment were the most likely to be connected, at 47 percent. In comparison, 34 percent of households with at least one person in part-time employment and 16 percent of households with no one in employment were connected to the Internet.
- Households containing two children (aged under 15) were the most likely to be connected to the Internet (50 percent), while only one in three households with no children were connected. As the number of children in a household increased above two, the proportion of households with access to the Internet progressively declined.
- The Auckland and Wellington regions had the highest level of Internet access (44 percent). The next highest level (36 percent) was found in the Canterbury and Nelson regions. The West Coast and Gisborne regions were the least connected, both with 25 percent.
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
Contact this person
