Older men are more active internet users than older women in the UK but still…
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognized national statistical institute of the UK, released some very interesting data, concerning the worldwide web’s use by the elders in Great Britain.
The figures show that women aged over 75 are far less likely to use the internet (37.6 percent) than their male counterparts (51.3 percent). Moreover, the data revealed that men aged 65 to 75 were more likely than women to be online, while among younger age groups the proportions were equal.
According to experts, this gender gap exists because men were more likely to have work experience of digital than women. During the past decades, higher-skilled job positions that required digital knowledge were held by more men than women.
However, the benefits of the internet use are not well-known to both genders and thus certain actions must be taken. The government, IT-related companies and services should implement smooth learning methods and motivate the elders to get a confident online approach.
In such way, older people (men and women) will be able to meet their needs online by having an efficient access to information and essential services such as banking, health information, booking appointments or paying bills.
The TECHSenior project aims to this direction, having as a primary objective to make elders capable of living independently in the digitalized world.
This article was originally published by Telegraph UK.