The Latino Digital Divide - Pew Hispanic Center

The Latino Digital Divide: The Native Born Lead the Foreign Born

When it comes to the use of technology among Latinos, nativity plays an important role.

Internet use and cell phone use are much higher among native-born Latinos than among foreign-born Latinos.

And among young Latinos ages 16 to 25, the native born are more likely than the foreign born to use mobile technology to communicate daily with their friends.

These findings emerge from two new analyses of a nationwide survey of Latinos ages 16 and older by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center.

Fully 85% of native-born Latinos go online while just half of foreign-born Latinos do so. And when it comes to cell phone use among Latinos, 80% of the native born use one, compared with 72% of the foreign born.

Results also reveal that use of a cell phone or the internet among adult Hispanics still significantly lags behind non-Hispanics. Among those ages 18 and older, only 64% of Latinos go online, compared with 78% of non-Latinos.

An ethnic gap exists in cell phone use as well--about three-fourths (76%) of adult Latinos use a cell phone, compared with 86% of non-Latinos.

These findings are in the "The Latino Digital Divide: The Native Born versus The Foreign Born <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103589056880&s=10515&e=0017bhRxdz1UXy1-7uxe4zpMyDqfn4zV0c19GJON8Gusxbz7KL_EwOLne_ar2Q9pGXtwYtqdkDC7luUogymSJftX3Vhgg2i8Ny4pSt--cyySvGFuOPFqe9Dh4iUGkku6VMDTp6i6pRAF1A6rJHNwswJkXyRIWGzzbrd> " report.

A second report that focuses on Latino youth, "How Young Latinos Communicate with Friends in the Digital Age <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103589056880&s=10515&e=0017bhRxdz1UXzkIvjB74ffpVqRYdB4SXVdqFCrr-LTLJY9akbhZgJ_F5aB9Ycm2QiQbm-7pVPCyT-qz0-C6K-Z02T3YoocGMjf5P1DOtrdb7CiXjgdq0JfethoBKcY9m9icx7kWOIpRL31uUvsSLrgICQN6Vb_qsJ0> ," finds that Latinos ages 16 to 25 use mobile technology to communicate and socialize with their friends more than other technologies. However, the native born are far more likely than the foreign born to send texts (65% versus 26%) and to use a cell phone (55% versus 29%) to communicate daily with their friends.

Both reports are based on the 2009 National Survey of Latinos, which was conducted from August 5 through September 16, 2009 among a randomly selected, nationally representative sample of 2,012 Hispanics ages 16 and older. The survey was conducted in both English and Spanish, on cellular as well as landline telephones.
 
Hispanics are the nation's largest and youngest minority ethnic group.

In 2008, there were 46.9 million Hispanics in the U.S., representing 15.4% of the total U.S. population.

Among young people, Hispanics represent an even larger share. Some 18%, or 7.5 million, of those ages 16 to 25 are Hispanic.

The reports, "The Latino Digital Divide: The Native Born versus The Foreign Born <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103589056880&s=10515&e=0017bhRxdz1UXy1-7uxe4zpMyDqfn4zV0c19GJON8Gusxbz7KL_EwOLne_ar2Q9pGXtwYtqdkDC7luUogymSJftX3Vhgg2i8Ny4pSt--cyySvGFuOPFqe9Dh4iUGkku6VMDTp6i6pRAF1A6rJHNwswJkXyRIWGzzbrd> " authored by Gretchen Livingston, Senior Researcher, Pew Hispanic Center, and "How Young Latinos Communicate with Friends in the Digital Age <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103589056880&s=10515&e=0017bhRxdz1UXzkIvjB74ffpVqRYdB4SXVdqFCrr-LTLJY9akbhZgJ_F5aB9Ycm2QiQbm-7pVPCyT-qz0-C6K-Z02T3YoocGMjf5P1DOtrdb7CiXjgdq0JfethoBKcY9m9icx7kWOIpRL31uUvsSLrgICQN6Vb_qsJ0> " authored by Mark Hugo Lopez, Associate Director, Pew Hispanic Center and Gretchen Livingston, are available at the Pew Hispanic Center's website, www.pewhispanic.org.
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