Scotland's People Annual report: Results from 2009/2010 Scottish Household Survey

9 Internet

Introduction and Context

The use of information and communication technologies ( ICT) play an important part in fulfilling Scotland's potential as a nation. Digital technologies - such as computers and broadband connections to the Internet - offer benefits to businesses and individuals. As part of its digital ambition ^[57], the Scottish Government is taking a co-ordinated and comprehensive approach to ensure that Scotland is positioned to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital age. This includes increasing digital participation to improve people's quality of life, boost economic growth and allow more effective delivery of public services.>

The Scottish Household Survey ( SHS) provides statistics on a number of relevant areas that can be used to measure progress. This chapter begins by looking at take-up of Internet and broadband by households in Scotland, with a focus on how this varies by income and area. It then looks at personal use of the Internet - including where and how the Internet is accessed - by key demographic factors, such as age and gender, health status, income and deprivation. The following section looks at reasons why adults do not use the Internet. The final part looks at use of Government and local authority websites to access information and services.

Household Internet and Broadband take up

The SHS has asked whether households currently have access to the Internet from their home every year since 2003. Figure 9.1 displays the figures for households with Internet access by quarter from 2003 to 2010. The proportion of households with home Internet access has seen a gradual increase year on year. In the first quarter of 2003, 40% of households surveyed had Internet access, which increased to 70% by the end of 2010.

Figure 9.1: Households with home Internet access by quarter
2003-2010 data, Households (base 2010: 10,313)

Home Internet access increases with net annual household income (Table 9.1), (although there is a break in the pattern for income bracket £6,001-£10,000). According to 2009/2010 data, around a third (35%) of households with incomes between £6,001-£10,000 had home Internet access, compared to 97% of households with incomes over £40,000.

Table 9.1: Households with home Internet access by net annual household income
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Households	£0 - £6,000	£6,001 - £10,000	£10,001 - £15,000	£15,001 - £20,000	£20,001 - £25,000	£25,001 - £30,000	£30,001 - £40,000	£40,001+	All
Yes	46	35	46	64	78	85	92	97	68
No	54	65	54	36	22	15	8	3	32
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	987	2,738	3,984	3,087	2,365	1,871	2,743	2,781	20,556

This question is only asked of half of the sample.

Household income in the SHS is that of the highest income householder and their partner only. Includes all adults for whom household income is known or has been imputed. Excludes refusals/don't know responses. The figures here differ from other tables due to the smaller base total.

Table 9.2 shows that households in the 15% most deprived areas of Scotland ^[58] are much less likely than those in the rest of Scotland to access to the Internet at home, at 52% and 69% respectively.

Table 9.2: Households with home Internet access by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Households	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Yes	52	69	67
No	48	30	33
Total	100	100	100
Base	3,072	18,268	21,340

This question is only asked of half of the sample.

Table 9.3 reports the prevalence of home Internet access by type of area, based on the Urban Rural Classification ^[59]. The proportion of households with home Internet access is higher in rural areas than in small towns and urban areas, though the difference has narrowed since 2008. Households in accessible rural areas have the highest proportion of home Internet access at 72%.

Table 9.3: Households with home Internet access by Urban Rural Classification
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Households	Large urban areas	Other urban areas	Accessible small towns	Remote small towns	Accessible rural	Remote rural	Scotland
Yes	66	65	67	64	72	69	67
No	34	35	33	36	28	30	33
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	7,607	6,293	1,839	1,161	2,507	1,934	21,341

This question is only asked of half of the sample.

Since 2007 the SHS has asked households who currently have access to the Internet from home if they have a broadband connection. The vast majority (96%) of households that have access to the Internet from home have a broadband connection ^[60]. The proportion of households with access to the Internet with a broadband connection has risen year on year since 2007 (from 87%).

Although broadband is now the predominant method for accessing the Internet, take up of broadband varies slightly with household income (Table 9.4). Among households who access the Internet and have a net annual income of more than £40,001, there is almost complete uptake of broadband (99%). This compares to 92% of households who access the Internet and have a net annual household income of between £6,001-£10,000.

Table 9.4: Households with an Internet connection who have broadband by net annual household income
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Households with Internet connection	£0 - £6,000	£6,001 - £10,000	£10,001 - £15,000	£15,001 - £20,000	£20,001 - £25,000	£25,001 - £30,000	£30,001 - £40,000	£40,001+	All
Yes	94	92	93	93	95	96	98	99	96
No	6	7	6	6	4	3	2	1	4
Total	100	99	99	99	99	99	100	100	100
Base	442	945	1,817	1,946	1,837	1,597	2,535	2,701	13,820

Totals do not sum to 100 as the "don't knows" have not been included.

This question is only asked of half of the sample.

Household income in the SHS is that of the highest income householder and their partner only. Includes all adults for whom household income is known or has been imputed. Excludes refusals/don't know responses.

More than nine out of ten households in Scotland who access the Internet at home have a broadband connection, regardless of the level of deprivation or rurality of the area. Broadband uptake rates are very similar among Internet using households in the 15% most deprived of areas of Scotland (at 94%) compared to the rest of Scotland (at 96%) (Table 9.5). Take up of broadband is lowest for remote rural areas, at 92%, compared to 96% in large urban areas (Table 9.6).

Table 9.5: Households with an Internet connection who have broadband by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Households with Internet connection	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Yes	94	96	96
No	5	4	4
Total	99	100	100
Base	1,598	12,589	14,187

Totals do not sum to 100 as the "don't knows" have not been included.

This question is only asked of half of the sample.

Table 9.6: Households with an Internet connection who have broadband by Urban Rural Classification
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Households with Internet connection	Large urban areas	Other urban areas	Accessible small towns	Remote small towns	Accessible rural	Remote rural	Scotland
Yes	96	96	96	93	95	92	96
No	3	3	4	5	5	7	4
Total	99	99	100	98	100	99	100
Base	5,002	4,086	1,229	732	1,789	1,350	14,188

Totals do not sum to 100 as the "don't knows" have not been included.

This question is only asked of half of the sample.

Personal Internet Use

In addition to the questions on household take up of Internet and broadband, the SHS asks a randomly selected adult in the household whether they personally use the Internet these days, either for work or personal use. Overall, 73% of adults surveyed said that they used the Internet. Just 1% of those said that they only used it for work purposes, suggesting that the majority of users make use of the Internet, at least sometimes, for personal purposes.

The following section focuses on those who do not use the Internet at all, as the barriers to future use are arguably greatest amongst these groups. Overall, 27% of adults surveyed in 2009/2010 did not use the Internet at all, which is a decrease from the figure of 33% reported in 2007/2008.

Table 9.7 shows differences in use of the Internet by gender and age. Overall, a higher proportion of women (30%) do not use the Internet compared to men (25%). The main differences between genders are among those aged 60 or older, with very little difference in the proportion of male and female non-users of the Internet in the younger age groups. Indeed, there is a clear linear relationship between age and use of the Internet, with lower levels of use among older respondents. Just 6% of men and 7% of women aged 16 to 24 do not use the Internet, whereas the corresponding figures for those aged 75 and over are 79% and 89% respectively.

Table 9.7: Use of Internet by age within gender
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults	16 to 24	25 to 34	35 to 44	45 to 59	60 to 74	75 plus	All
Men
Internet user	94	90	87	77	54	21	75
Does not use the Internet at all	6	10	13	23	46	79	25
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	914	1,384	1,863	2,885	2,670	1,210	10,926
Women
Internet user	93	92	88	78	44	11	70
Does not use the Internet at all	7	8	12	22	56	89	30
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	1,146	1,974	2,320	3,213	3,333	2,070	14,056

Over half of those who have some form of a long-term illness, health problem or disability do not use the Internet, compared with 19% of those who do not have any of these conditions (Table 9.8). There is a very strong correlation between health status and age, so this could be, at least in part, a reflection of the relatively low levels of Internet use among older people, who are also more likely to have a long-term illness, health problem and/or disability.

For the youngest age group (16-24 year olds), having either a disability or long-standing illness does not impact to a great extent upon Internet use: 9% of those with a disability only and 7% of those with a long-standing illness did not use the Internet compared to 6% who had neither a disability or long-standing illness. However, when the respondents in this age group had both a disability and a long-standing illness the likelihood of them not using the Internet increased to 13%. Overall, prevalence of not using the Internet is generally highest where adults have both a disability and a long-term illness.

Table 9.8: Use of Internet by whether has a long-standing limiting, illness, health problem or disability by age group
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults	Has disability (only)	Has a long-term illness (only)	Has both disability and a long-term illness	Has neither disability or long term illness	All
16 to 24 (base 2,048)
Internet user	91	93	87	94	94
Does not use the Internet at all	9	7	13	6	6
25 to 34 (base 3,353)
Internet user	70	81	85	92	91
Does not use the Internet at all	30	19	15	8	9
35 to 44 (base 4,174)
Internet user	66	71	74	91	88
Does not use the Internet at all	34	29	26	9	12
45 to 59 (base 6,083)
Internet user	57	63	56	83	77
Does not use the Internet at all	43	37	44	17	23
60 to 74 (base 5,991)
Internet user	32	40	33	56	48
Does not use the Internet at all	68	60	67	44	52
75 plus (base 3,279)
Internet user	13	12	10	21	15
Does not use the Internet at all	87	88	90	79	85
All (base 24,928)
Internet user	43	50	42	81	73
Does not use the Internet at all	57	50	58	19	27

As with the previous data presented on household Internet use, there are also differences in the use of the Internet by net annual household income (Table 9.9). In general, the proportion of adults who use the Internet increases as net annual income increases (with the exception of those living in households with a net annual income of under £6,000). Only 4% of adults surveyed who lived in a household with a net annual income in excess of £40,000 did not use the Internet.

Table 9.9: Use of the Internet by net annual household income
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults	£0 - £6,000	£6,001 - £10,000	£10,001 - £15,000	£15,001 - £20,000	£20,001 - £25,000	£25,001 - £30,000	£30,001 - £40,000	£40,001+	All
Internet user	59	45	50	65	76	84	90	96	73
Does not use the Internet at all	41	55	50	35	24	16	10	4	27
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	1,174	3,301	4,869	3,654	2,752	2,149	3,090	3,106	24,095

Household income in the SHS is that of the highest income householder and their partner only. Includes all adults for whom household income is known or has been imputed. Excludes refusals/don't know responses.

A higher proportion of adults living in the 15% most deprived areas of Scotland do not use the Internet (41%) compared to those living in the rest of the country (25%) (Table 9.10).

Table 9.10: Use of the Internet by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Personal / work	58	74	71
Work only	1	1	1
Does not use	41	25	27
Total	100	100	100
Base	3,622	21,344	24,966

Where and how users access the Internet

The ways in which people access the Internet are becoming increasingly diverse and complex. Since 2007 the SHS has asked adults who personally use the Internet about the location where they access it and which methods they used. Table 9.11 shows that the majority (94%) of adults who use the Internet access it at home, followed by at work (21%). Seven per cent said that they accessed the Internet whilst on the move, for example using a mobile phone. There appears to be a relationship between age and accessing the Internet on the move, with 13% of users aged 16-24 accessing the Internet on the move, compared to 2% of users aged 60-74.

Table 9.11: Where adults who use the Internet access it for personal use
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults who make personal use of the internet
At home	94
At work	21
School, college, university, other educational institution	8
At another persons home	7
Mobile phone/ WAP/on the move	7
Public library	4
Internet café or shop	2
A government/council office	0
Community or voluntary centre/organisation	0
Somewhere else	1
Don't know	0
Base	7,943

Columns may add to more than 100% since multiple responses allowed

Over the four years when this question has been asked, there has been little change in the proportion of Internet users accessing the Internet from most of these locations. A notable exception is that year on year there has been an increase in the proportion accessing the Internet on the move, from 2% in 2007 to 7% in 2010.

There also appears to be a relationship between household annual net income and where users access the Internet for personal use. Adult Internet users in lower income households are less likely to access the Internet from home or work, but more likely to access it from a public library than those in higher income households (Table 9.12).

Table 9.12: Where adults who use the Internet access it for personal use by annual net income
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults who make personal use of the internet	£0 - £6,000	£6,001 - £10,000	£10,001 -£15,000	£15,001 - £20,000	£20,001 - £25,000	£25,001 - £30,000	£30,001 - £40,000	£40,001+	All
At home	89	84	85	93	94	95	97	99	94
At another persons home	6	11	10	7	7	6	6	5	7
At work	4	4	11	17	17	22	25	36	21
School, college, university, other educational institution	25	11	9	5	6	6	6	7	7
A government/council office	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Community or voluntary centre/organisation	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Internet café or shop	3	2	2	1	1	2	1	2	2
Mobile phone/ WAP/on the move	6	5	6	7	7	6	7	10	7
Public library	6	11	9	5	4	3	2	2	4
Somewhere else	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	1
Don't know	-	0	1	0	0	-	-	-	0
Base	265	638	1,036	1,113	977	884	1,369	1,437	7,719

Columns may add to more than 100% since multiple responses allowed

The SHS also asks about methods used to access the Internet for personal use. Nearly all Internet users (99%) used a personal computer or laptop, although 16% had used other devices, such as through the television (digital, cable or satellite), telephone (a mobile or Smartphone), or a games console ( e.g.PS2 or xBox) (Table 9.13). Use of alternative methods to access the Internet appears to be more prevalent amongst younger age groups, with 29% of 16-24 year old Internet users using alternative methods, compared to only 3% of Internet users aged 75 and over.

Table 9.13: Which methods are used to access the Internet for personal use by age
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults who make personal use of the internet	16-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60-74	75+	All
A personal computer or laptop	98	99	99	99	99	100	99
Another way	29	21	14	11	4	3	16
Base	908	1,493	1,803	2,206	1,298	235	7,943

Columns may add to more than 100% since multiple responses allowed

Why people do not use the Internet

The SHS asked adults who make no personal use of the Internet the reasons why they did not (Table 9.14). Among the most common responses were reasons related to people's preferences or requirements, with 28% saying they did not like using the Internet/computers, 25% saying they did not need to use the Internet/computers and 14% saying there is nothing of interest on the Internet. Not knowing how to use a computer appears to be another common reason for not using the Internet: around a quarter of non-users (24%) said that they did not know how to use a computer, and a further 8% said that it would be too difficult to learn to use the Internet. Cost also seems to be an issue, with 13% saying that they could not afford a computer and 4% saying that an Internet connection would be too expensive.

Table 9.14: Reasons why people might not use the Internet (other than work)
Percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults who make no personal use of the internet
I don't like using the internet or computers	28
I don't need to use the internet or computers	25
I don't know how to use a computer	24
There's nothing of interest to me on the internet	14
I can't afford a computer	13
It would be too difficult to learn how to use the internet	8
I prefer to do things in person rather than use computers	7
Internet connection would be too expensive	4
I am concerned about privacy e.g. keeping credit card or personal details safe	4
I have a disability or illness that prevents me	2
I am worried about the unsuitable or inappropriate material on the internet	2
Other reason	9
Base	4,508

Columns may add to more than 100% since multiple responses allowed

There were few notable differences in the reasons given by men and women, or by people who have a disability and/or long term-illness for not using the Internet compared to adults overall. The small base numbers of younger adults who did not use the Internet make it difficult to analyse differences by age group, although a higher proportion of 16-34 year olds mentioned the cost of a computer or Internet connection compared to other age groups. Cost was also mentioned by a higher proportion of non-users within the 15% most deprived areas of Scotland than in the rest of Scotland, and by people from households with lower annual net incomes.

The SHS asked those who did not use the Internet for personal use whether they would like to use the Internet one day. Around six out of ten (62%) answered no.

Use of Local Authority and Government Websites

It is possible to access an increasing number of public services and information online. Online services and information can be quicker and more convenient for people to use, and can be provided at a lower cost than other methods. However, a person's use of websites to access public services is dependent both upon them having access to the Internet and their tendency to access information or services online. The SHS explored the part played by ICT-based public service delivery by asking which, if any, things the respondent had ever used their local council website and (non-specified) government websites for.

Table 9.15 presents the proportions of respondents who have ever used a local council or government website. The figures for all adults help present a fuller picture of the use of these websites, as they take into account the fact that 27% of adults surveyed did not use the Internet. It should be noted that these figures do not take account whether people have actually needed to access information or use these services in the first place (for example, only car owners require road tax and few people each year need to renew their passport).

When looking at Internet users specifically, around half have made no use of either local authority websites (51%) or government websites (50%). Since 2007 this figure has fluctuated around the 50% mark (with a maximum of 4 percentage points difference in either direction). Among those who had used local authority websites, the most common reasons were to find information or download a form. In contrast, only a very small proportion (1%) had ever participated in a discussion forum using local authority websites.

Table 9.15: Use (ever) of public services on the Internet
Column percentages, 2009/2010 data

Adults	Internet users	All adults
Local authority website
Finding information	40	34
Download a form	13	11
Make a complaint	5	4
Ask a question	7	6
Participate in a discussion forum	1	1
Access services like report a fault, renew library books, planning applications	8	7
Make payment like council tax or parking fine	8	7
Some other purpose	8	7
Any purpose	49	41
None of these	51	32
Do not use the Internet	-	28
Base	19,498	24,789
Government website
Apply for road tax	31	26
Complete income tax assessment	7	6
Register to vote	6	5
Look for information: health services	15	12
Look for information: healthy living/health	10	9
Apply for/renew TV licence	14	12
Apply for benefits	4	3
Renew passport	10	8
Other	8	7
Any purpose	50	41
None of these	50	31
Do not use the Internet	-	28
Base	9,764	12,349

Columns may add to more than 100% since multiple responses were allowed.

The question on use of government websites was only asked of half the sample.