Over half of late-20s crowd own cell phones only
Slightly more than half of people ages 25 to 29 live in households that have jettisoned their landlines in favor of cell phones, according to a new report from the CDC.
Fifty-one percent of 25- to 29-year-olds live in households that have kicked the landline habit, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That is the first time that wireless-only households have surpassed landline households among any age group, according to the CDC's report released yesterday. The report, which surveyed 17,619 households over the six months that ended in June, also showed a 2 point rise of cell-phone-only households among late-twentysomethings compared with the previous six months.
Looking at other age groups, around 40 percent of people 18 to 24 and 30 to 34 live in cell phone-only households. After the age of 35, that figures drops off until age 65 when only 5 percent of the people are in households with cell phones only.
Meanwhile, almost 40 percent of households with children under 3 rely on cell phones alone.
Overall, the CDC found that 26 percent of U.S. homes used only wireless phones, while another 16 percent received all or almost all their calls on a cell phone even though they still have landlines.
The findings in general and among the various age groups are significant because they show that cell-phone-only households aren't prevalent just among younger, single people, according to Stephen Blumberg, the report's author. Blumberg told the Associated Press the numbers suggest that young adults who use cell phones alone continue that habit as they have families.
"It's a sign that wireless-only is no longer strictly tied to a lifestyle of being young and restless," Blumberg told the AP.