If You Build It, Will They Come?

FRANKFORT, KY (July 15, 1996) — Major obstacles to computer use and Internet access may exist across the Commonwealth, even after Kentucky constructs its Information Highway. Libraries and other public facilities may make computers and Internet access more affordable, but other barriers are less easily removed.

Findings from a recent survey by the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center, conducted by the University of Kentucky Survey Research Center, suggest that older and less educated Kentuckians may be far less likely to own computers, even if they can afford to. At all income levels, the rate of computer ownership is highest among people younger than 30, and falls steadily in older age groups. Likewise, at all income levels the rate of computer ownership is highest for college graduates, and falls steadily for people as the years of schooling decline.

These findings raise an important question: Who will use publicly available computers and Internet connections? Clearly, something more than money discourages people from owning and using a computer. Among people who presumably could afford to own a computer-people living in a household with an annual income of $50,000 or more-those under the age of 30 are nearly three times as likely to own a home computer as those over 50. And people with a college degree are twice as likely to own a home computer as people with a high school degree. Computer ownership is much lower for people with a high school degree in lower income groups.

The "education gap" in computer ownership could have important implications for workforce development. Individuals with less education are more likely to work in industries with high rates of layoffs and are less likely to find another job of equal pay, yet they are also less likely to own computers which would enable them to increase their skills and find better jobs.

Age and education barriers to ownership and use could have implications for regional and community development. Areas with an older and less educated population may have fewer citizens capable of, or even interested in, using computers and the Internet. Survey findings suggest that people in the Louisville-Lexington-Northern Kentucky region are much more likely to have access to a personal computer at home, work, or school than people in the rest of the state. And people in the Louisville-Lexington-Northern Kentucky region who use computers are more likely to have accessed the Internet than people in other parts of the state.

The survey also found that about one-third of Kentucky households own a personal computer. This is very close to the national average. In total, approximately two-thirds of Kentucky adults have access to a personal computer at home, work, or school, and about one in five Kentucky adults has accessed the Internet.

The Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center notes that some of the sample sizes of different groups in the survey were small, and these should only be considered preliminary results. "Nonetheless," says Michael Childress, the Center's executive director, "these findings raise issues which have not been examined before now, and clearly should be." Most important: Why is it that less educated and older adults are less inclined to own a computer, even when they could easily afford to? Discovering the answer may help the state develop special training courses aimed at people in certain age and education groups, so that all Kentuckians will share the benefits of the Information Highway.

These survey results are discussed in more detail in Foresight, a free quarterly newsletter published by the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center. A copy of the newsletter may be obtained from the Center at: