March 2008 -

 

Wired Seniors

Here is a statement that might surprise you: “Wired Seniors” (Internet users aged 65 or older) are the fastest-growing demographic group online.  The statement can be a bit misleading because most of the growth in this demographic in the last few years has come from long-time Internet users in their early sixties aging into senior status.  None-the-less, with the Internet-savvy baby boomer generation poised to gracefully move into retirement, the amount of Internet users age 65 and older will dramatically increase in the coming years. 

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 34% of Americans aged 65 and older go online, up from 29% in January 2005.  This is projected to sharply increase in the next ten years as baby boomers retire.  But a closer assessment of the report also reveals that just 28% of Americans age 70 and older go online.  The current demographic of Internet users in their seventies and eighties are not using the Internet because they didn’t grow up with Internet technology in business and home life.  Interestingly, there is little evidence to suggest that non-users of the Internet in their seventies and eighties are flocking to computers to “surf the web.”

Senior Computer Usage

In terms of online activities, some of the most popular activities utilized by seniors are:

E-mail – According to the Pew Internet & Life Project, e-mail is the number one online activity among seniors.  On any given day, it is estimated that close to two million seniors are online utilizing e-mail.

Hobbies – According to the Pew Internet & Life Project, hobbies are the second most popular activity among the senior demographic.  This is quite interesting, considering this activity is popular with other age demographics as well. 

Money – Seniors are also aligned with the general populations interest in researching financial news online.  This includes anything from looking up stock quotes to actually making stock trades online.

Health – Since many senior citizens are concerned with health related issues, many of them search the worldwide web for advice and information on medical services.  According to a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, health education is one of the factors that have decreased the number of senior citizens who are chronically disabled and require nursing home care. 

Weather - Another important activity for senior Internet users is weather reports.  According to the Pew Internet & Life Project, 53% of wired seniors have looked for weather reports online.  It is also interesting to note that more senior men check the weather online than do senior women. 

Internet Usage Motivation

What motivates Internet users in general to go online?  According to the Pew Internet & Life Project, work or school motivates half of all Internet users to go online, so it is logical that younger Americans are more likely to go online than senior citizens.  However, it seems that retirement has an effect not just on connectivity, but also on user’s motivation for Internet usage.  Please review the statistics below:

• An American between ages 50 and 64 years old is three times more likely to have Internet access than someone over the age of 65 (51% vs. 15%).

• In contrast to wired seniors, “pre-retirement” Internet users (aged 50-64) match the overall Internet demographic in their use of the Internet for email, getting general and political news, checking weather, and doing research for their jobs.

• While 68% of wired seniors say they would miss the Internet if they could no longer use it fully, 75% of Internet users between 50 and 64 years old feel that way.

Researching Healthcare Options Online

With the Internet becoming a greater resource for health-related information, a recent survey completed by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that 21% of seniors (aged 65 and older) have gone online to research health information compared to 53% of age 50-64 year-olds.  The survey also finds that the monetary divide among seniors (see second paragraph below) could leave the most vulnerable with less information on which to base important health care decisions.

Seniors whose annual household income is below $20,000 a year are much less likely to have gone online (15%) than those with incomes between $20,000 – 49,000 (40%) or those with incomes of $50,000 a year or more (65%).  As a result, there needs to be a concentrated effort to give the lower income senior demographic an opportunity to get connected and online.

Because of the high percentage of 50-64 year olds researching health related information online, health resources available on the Internet will soon play a much larger role among the aging baby-boomer generation. 

What Does All This Mean?

While today’s senior citizens (aged 70 and older) are the least likely to go online, the baby-boomer generation behind them is among the most Internet-connected.  Internet users aged 50-64 are likely to keep their Internet access even after they retire and this generation may be the demographic that takes advantage of all the Internet has to offer them as they get older.