Digital Technology: Disadvantaged

(asked on 19th January 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of digital poverty on young people and their households.


Answered by
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Portrait
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This question was answered on 3rd February 2023

HM Government recognises that digital skills and digital access are increasingly required to participate in many aspects of society.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport works with third-sector organisations across the UK to understand the challenges facing people in digital poverty. The Digital Poverty Alliance, one of our partners, has recently published an evidence review which made an assessment of the impact of digital poverty on young people and their households. This has found that 30 per cent of young people aged 8–25 (2.1 million people) are at risk of becoming ‘digital castaways’ and that 42 per cent of young people (6 million people) do not have either home broadband or a laptop/desktop computer. Young people who are digitally excluded are less likely to be in well-paying jobs, have worse health outcomes, and have an overall lower quality of life.

We also work across Government and with the private sector to ensure that the needs of digitally excluded people are considered. For example, DCMS has negotiated a range of high-quality, low-cost social tariffs for households in receipt of Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits, including Pension Credit. These are available across 99 per cent of the UK.

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