Spreading connectivity during the cost-of-living crisis. Can the UK tackle the digital divide?
From our UK edition
Access to digital services is one of the most important factors affecting an individual’s social networking and career prospects. We know that those without digital access are at greater risk of loneliness, career setbacks and poverty, creating a vicious cycle of exclusion. Yet the UK has an entrenched digital divide which has proven difficult to bridge. Some progress had been made in recent years, but the figures remain daunting: last year, 1.5 million homes did not have internet access. As the UK’s cost-of-living crisis persists, we find ourselves with a digital divide that is at risk of becoming wider and deeper. More people may be forced out of the digital ecosystem as personal finances are squeezed.
