Older people are increasingly likely to own a smartphone, Pew finds
A new survey suggests that over 60% of people over 65 in the US are using smartphones and have broadband at home.
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There's a well-worn cliché that older people only use flip phones but three in five people over 65 in the US now own smartphones, according to new research.
A report on smartphone and broadband use by Pew Research published on Thursday says the number of people 65 and older who have a smartphone has increased from 53% to 61% in the past two years. The number is even higher in people 65 to 74 at 71%, but that share falls to 43% in those older than that.
Meanwhile, broadband use is also high in the over 65s, with 64% having a high-speed connection at home.
Even though smartphones are becoming more common in older adults, they're still far less likely to own one than than younger people. Pew notes that 95% of adults under 49 now own an internet-capable phone, while 15% of all adults say they don't have a home broadband connection at all and are "smartphone-only."
While the study says that high-speed internet use has slightly increased overall, it says that about a quarter of the population does not have a broadband internet connection at home.
These findings come from a nationally representative survey of 1,502 US adults conducted via telephone from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8 this year.
