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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Clea Skopeliti

Nearly half of UK families excluded from modern digital society, study finds

Child using a laptop.
Researchers defined a ‘minimum digital living standard’ that measures households’ digital abilities and access. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Almost half of UK families with children lack the online skills or access to devices, data and broadband required to participate in today’s digital society, research shows, with an expert saying this divide is an “amplifier of other exclusions”.

Research shared exclusively with the Guardian found that 45% of households with children did not meet the threshold. Families from low socioeconomic backgrounds in deprived areas and households outside London were among those who were less likely to meet it. Households from minority ethnic backgrounds and those with disabled parents were twice as likely to fall below it.

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