40% of over 75s do not use the internet

[antelopevalley]

I have just read this statistic in a report and it has left me wondering about the other 60%. Life will become increasingly difficult for them. And if they are not using it now, they are unlikely to be using it in a few years time.

Your link seems to be about West Wales which is not really representative of the rest of the UK, it's quite an isolated rural population, the pace of life is slower and there is probably less need for the internet as there is a sense of community and people look out for each other. My grandad lived there until he has recently had to move to a home at which point he has moved closer to my mum in England.

He's never wanted to use the internet, my grandma loved it when she was alive and enjoyed writing emails. As soon as he died he disconnected the computer and cancelled the internet. He is now getting interested in the idea of video calls to relatives but sadly it's a bit late as he's 96 and can't really see.

As soon as my grandma died, I mean. Autocorrect

The report is about West Wales, but the stat seemed to be about UK internet access, although it wasn't very clear. My work is looking at older retirees from very rural areas and sadly a lot of them do not have good local connections. Some areas in West Wales have up to one-third of the population as incoming retirees. Other areas of England are even higher. It is already causing problems and will cause many more.

Just need to set up RIP.UK and the problem will be sorted 😀RIP.ie

I agree OP, it's an area of some concern. The Oxford Internet Survey iirc (v interesting and good quality research, worth a read) finds both an age effect and a generation effect, so even though Internet usage and digital skills look higher in the 'older working age' demographic this isn't necessarily sustained and people can move from being digitally included to being digitally excluded. Some of this is likely to be about leaving the workforce and losing access to IT support, some of it will be about other life changes often associated with becoming older such as being widowed, becoming disabled, moving home.

There are different aspects of channel shift (moving services online - either exclusively or 'by default' with a complicated non-digital route for those who need it): people have mentioned local authority services, also central government services, also banking (as a very digitally able person I've had a frustrating time recently with my credit card - their two-factor authentication system just won't send me a text, or my phone just won't receive it, so I don't have the code to do anything interesting after logging in!). Also eg advertising 'what's on' locally, all the sorts of stuff that used to involve a sign in the newsagent window.

Of course not all older people will want to be online, but actually the Internet can also offer significant benefits, particularly for people with very limited mobility, who may be living alone for the first time in decades etc. It is not a non-issue.

There are indeed very real practical barriers, related to cost, environmental issues and increasing complexity, distance and abstraction, as have been touched on.

These issues all give rise to related ethical concerns. Some people refuse to have to many online connections, or will only do so on their own terms rather than those dictated by private companies. It’s not as simple as ‘resistant to new’ at all.

They are not talking about digital exclusion, but factors that cause loneliness and one is not using the internet to find out what is happening locally.

But that is quite different from you saying the "don't use the internet".
Plenty of people can do what they feel they need to do on-line without spending half their life 'surfing the net'.

Like a pp, more and more going on-line is, in itself a cause of more and more loneliness, with increasing numbers of people rarely leaving their homes, as 'there is no need'. Now, I reckon this is more younger people, but it strikes me it is a bigger concern to society than some 92 yr olds relying on their dc or gdc to help them do something on-line.

Another concern of course is lack of signal. On a recent holiday in Wales, many of the car parks had changed to being cashless / pay by app, but everyone was just standing there unable to connect and unable to pay. This was in several different places across the week. Not people unwilling to, but the technology didn't support the idea.

I think retiring to a rural area is something that has a lot of downfalls. I wouldn't consider not being keen to use the internet being my biggest concern.

My DH's grandmother is in her 90's and FaceTimes him regularly, uses Facebook more than we do and confidently buys most things online. She still calls his mobile to ask for random help when her iPad goes wrong but overall she's more computer literate than some people much younger because she's willing to learn and ask for help. DH taught her a lot but she also joined an IT course run by Age Concern years ago (because they're better at jargon busting than my IT nerd DH).

@Kite22 I have experienced not being able to pay for parking due to no connection. In many rural areas internet signal is still hit and miss.
And yes retirees moving to rural areas with no family there are I think mad.

90% of the under 30s have piercings, tattoos, no manners and cannot speak English properly.
What exactly is your argument OP?

Yes it's a problem. I work for a charity for older people. Every benefit claim etc is made online and people just can't do it. And half the time even when we try to do the claims for them, there are issues. Our charity runs digital inclusion schemes though to try to help older people learn the basics.

Don’t underestimate how difficult it is to text and email when you’ve never learned to find your way around a QWERTY keyboard. Typing was a super duper skill in my DM’s day.

I remember going to a computer class with an older relative. It was eye-opening. My relative struggled majorly with using a mouse. It was like a young child learning how to hold and use a pencil. It made me realise how I take some very basic IT skills for granted.

I know people younger (60’s) who don’t use the internet, they had jobs that didn’t involve computers or had no incentive or motivation to try it. I know some people in their 80’s who are rarely off the internet and social media. My DM had good computer skills and used to email me but dice developing dementia that has been one of the first skills unlearned and she claims never to have used it (despite it being part of her job not long ago). The difficulty is that we depend on it for so much now that people who can’t use it are effectively locked out of many essential parts of life, they rely heavily on others to help them which thanks to Data Protection is almost impossible and their worlds just become smaller and their loved ones more stressed.

And why should we have a world where many older and disabled people can only cope with it if someone else does tasks they could do themselves if services were set up differently?

Some older people like the idea that they are supported by a community - neighbours, friends, their adult children. It's how they remember life when they were young. It's a mark of shame for them if they don't have a living, breathing network they can call on. Being fiercely independent isn't the aim of all older people. The only thing my mum insists on doing for herself is driving.

Some older people like the idea that they are supported by a community - neighbours, friends, their adult children.

Accepting support is one thing, but choosing to live in a world where you can't pay your bills without help would be a bizarre choice in my opinion. Nor do I think for one moment that these systems are designed in the belief that elderly people wish to resign responsibility for their lives to their delighted families.

Every benefit claim etc is made online

PIP isn't

@mathanxiety Every older relative of mine wants to be independent in day-to-day life. They like a community around them of people they chat to and people they can ask for advice. They do not want to be unable to do basic everyday tasks like shopping, paying bills, or booking medical appointments. Anyone who enjoys others helping with basic everyday tasks is individuals who are pretty needy and annoy everyone around them.

@math sorry missed your mum wants people to help her do everything. I think that is unusual. I had an Aunt like this and she was like this due to a traumatic childhood that made her overly dependent on others.

Most medics will tell you that with older people the opposite issue is usually the problem. Elderly people getting conned, falling, or not having basic needs met as they will not ask anyone for help even when they need it.

I'm sure that the proportion of Internet users will increase rapidly over the next 5 to 10 years. Most people aged between 65 and 75 today are Internet users and most still will be in 10 years time.

Anyone born after about 1950 would likely have needed to become familiar with computers and the Internet for work and would have continued to use it after they retired.

I am not sure that is true. Tech has to become more accessible to older people with difficulties such as arthritis.
Or speech software has to improve.
Someone needs to design cheap IT with large buttons and good quality software e.g. large on/off button and large button to start speech software. Even if the existing speech software works for you, logging on to laptops can be impossible. And laptops because of larger screens are more accessible than tablets or phones.
But without these needs being considered, then people will have the skills, but will continue to reach a point where they can not use the existing IT.

This. It’s a time specific issue that will fade away as people age.

It’s a time specific issue that will fade away as people age.

The physical consequences of ageing will not go away. Eyesight not as sharp as it used to be, fingers not as nimble as they used to be.

Don’t underestimate how difficult it is to text and email when you’ve never learned to find your way around a QWERTY keyboard.

My mother was a typist at times in her working life. She knows her way around a QWERTY keyboard. But using a touchscreen to type into little boxes on a screen is physically very different from bashing away at a typewriter keyboard - I know, I've done both.

And as a pp said, using a mouse requires a certain amount of dexterity which older people may no longer have.

My mum will never be able to do online banking, or pay bills online. But she is still perfectly capable of getting on a bus and going to the bank to transact her business at the counter. As long as there is actually a bank for her to go to.

The physical consequences of ageing will not go away. Eyesight not as sharp as it used to be, fingers not as nimble as they used to be

Eyesight can be corrected. I have arthritis in both hands but lo and behold here I am using the internet - and will continue to do so for as long as my brain holds out.