The proliferation of new smartphone owners, including Americans without home broadband access, has not been enough to close the most significant gaps in the digital divide, according to a new Pew Research Center study.
“The Smartphone Difference,” released this week, shows that smartphone owners relying on the technology as their only link to the Internet are more likely to use it for a job hunt or to access other vital services. They’re also more likely to have their smartphone service cut off due to financial hardship.
(Click image for larger version)
And that momentary inconvenience could be “the difference between hearing back from a job and being able to apply for a job,” said study coauthor Aaron Smith. “This could affect their financial situation in a meaningful way.”
The findings came as such a surprise to Pew researchers that the study hadn’t been prepared with any follow-up questions about job searches on smartphones, said Mr. Smith. But it did spark a plan to study the issue in depth for a report later this year.
Conducted in the fall with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the study polled 2,188 smartphone owners on their day-to-day usage and asked how much they rely on the phones for Internet access. About 64 percent of American adults own a smartphone, up from 58 percent in early 2014, Pew reported.
Seven percent of Americans own a smartphone but lack any other type of high-speed access at home and, other than on their cell phone, have limited options for going online at places such as nearby libraries and community centers.
Those users — deemed “smartphone dependent” — were largely younger, more diverse and less affluent than the rest of respondents.
Fifteen percent of those ages 18 to 29 were smartphone dependent, as well as 13 percent of those with annual incomes less than $30,000 per year. Twelve percent of blacks and 13 percent of Latinos surveyed were smartphone dependent, compared to 4 percent of whites.
For the smartphone dependent, online access was both critical and unstable. Nearly half of smartphone owners with an annual household income of less than $30,000 (48 percent) reported they have had to cancel or pause service due to money problems, and 51 percent either frequently or occasionally max out their data plans.
Only 21 percent of the remaining respondents said they had to cancel service, and 35 percent said they occasionally reach data limits.
Those breaks in service were potentially devastating to subjects in households earning less than $30,000 per year, who were almost twice as likely as subjects in households earning $75,000 to use smartphones to look for jobs and more than 4 times as likely to use phones to submit job applications.
Even with uninterrupted service, anyone applying for work on a smartphone is likely to run into obstacles, said Wes Roberts, library service manager for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Workforce and Economic Development department.
Many companies have not created online job applications that fit mobile interfaces. Those with updated resumes sitting in email inboxes can’t upload documents directly from phones to a company’s website.
Mr. Roberts added that smartphones typically don’t give users experience with Microsoft Office or any other programs that have become integral to the workday. He said the library encourages those using the Internet on smartphones to take advantage of job and career education services that includes a crash course in Microsoft Office and a resume review.
Nearly 2,000 people came to the library’s Oakland branch for career services help last year, a notable increase from 2013 according to Mr. Roberts.
“When we see someone who accesses the Internet with only a smartphone, chances are they need our other services as well,” he said.
Despite the shortfalls, the report notes that smartphone access has helped the smartphone dependent check up on their health, stay informed with current events, and has provided educational material the group may not have had otherwise.
Still, the results show that smartphone Internet access is a tool rather than a solution toward equity in broadband access.
“The growing use of smartphones to access and share information holds tremendous opportunities for news organizations and other content creators to develop new, mobile-friendly ways of capturing audience attention and getting people the information they need,” said Jon Sotsky, Knight Foundation director for strategy and assessment, in a news release.
“At the same time, the report reveals that ensuring open and easy access to mobile technology is essential to building more informed communities.”
Deborah M. Todd: dtodd@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1652. Twitter: @deborahtodd.
First Published: April 3, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
