Online activities of Canadian boomers and seniors

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by Ben Veenhof and Peter Timusk

Introduction
What you should know about this study
Seniors use the Internet the least, but are the fastest growing group of users
Online activities reveal different role of the Internet in seniors’ lives
Seniors more likely than boomers to play games
Seniors stay connected to news and events…
…but are less involved in community groups online
Seniors use government online information differently from other users
The Internet is a common source of retirement planning information for boomers
Seniors active health information users, but look for different types of information
Seniors not yet buying into e-commerce
Which seniors are the most Internet-savvy?
Few offline seniors plan to start using the Internet in the near future
Summary

Introduction

Canadians' use of the Internet has changed the way they work, shop, gather information, communicate with friends and family, and manage their time. And yet, for all of the Internet's pervasiveness, studies of the digital divide remind us that there remain significant differences in access to and use of the Internet along socio-economic and demographic lines, with age in particular identified as an important factor.¹

Understanding Internet use from an age-cohort perspective may provide additional insights into differences in Internet use.² Indeed, it is likely that people who currently use the Internet will continue to do so, and that differences in utilization rates by age should continue to decline. This narrowing divide can be attributed to both the movement of existing users through age cohorts, as well as new use among today's seniors.³

This article examines how seniors of today aged 65 and over use the Internet, compared with baby boomers aged 45 to 64, who are the seniors of tomorrow. It describes differences in the types of online activities, as well as in the intensity of Internet use (see “What you should know about this study” for concepts, definitions and details).

 

Seniors use the Internet the least, but are the fastest growing group of users

In 2007, the vast majority of boomers used the Internet, but significantly fewer seniors went online (Chart 1). Since 2000, however, growth rates of Internet use have been highest among seniors, as they recorded use rates in 2007 that were nearly four times higher than in 2000.⁴ Conversely, rates for people aged 15 to 24 had already reached a point of near-saturation by 2003 (94%) and consequently left little room for high sustained growth rates.⁵

Chart 1 Rates of Internet use, by age group, selected years

Although each age group experienced significant growth in Internet use rates, in 2007 the gaps in use rates remained significant.⁶ Since individual characteristics such as labour force status and education may explain part of the observed differences in Internet use rates by age group,⁷ a logistic regression model (results not shown) was used to identify the relationships between Internet use and several socio-demographic factors. Results of the analysis show that age still remains a significant and substantive predictor of Internet use, even after controlling for factors such as educational attainment and household income.⁸

Online activities reveal different role of the Internet in seniors’ lives

The gap between boomers and seniors is not just in Internet use rates. Seniors also perform a smaller variety of online activities than boomers. Choices of activities reveal different preferences, as well as the different functional role the Internet plays in their personal lives.

Email was the most common use of the Internet by seniors, with 9 in 10 Internet users taking advantage of it. Similar proportions of boomers also used email (Table 1).

Table 1 Internet activities performed at home in the last 12 months by Internet users, by age group, 2007

For Canadian seniors with large and dispersed extended families, email may represent an efficient means of keeping in touch. Previous research has found that email users aged 65 and older were more likely to use email to communicate with relatives than all other users.⁹ Many seniors feel that it has improved their family connections, and they communicate more frequently with relatives when email is available.¹⁰

Other forms of personal online communication were less popular among seniors. While 32% of boomers with Internet at home participated in instant messaging in 2007, this activity was less popular among seniors, at 26%.

Many Internet users also contributed content online by blogging, participating in discussion forums and uploading photos online. These activities were significantly less common among both boomer and senior users, who had participation rates below 10%.

Seniors more likely than boomers to play games

The Internet is a particularly popular source of leisure for online seniors and even more so for boomers. Over one-half of seniors who were home Internet users said they did general Internet browsing for fun or leisure in 2007, compared to more than two-thirds of boomers who used the Internet from home.

Playing games on the Internet was the second-most popular leisure activity among seniors who used the Internet from home in 2007. In fact, seniors were more likely than boomers to do so (36% versus 27%), most likely because they have more leisure time;¹¹ the gap in participation rates was smaller when comparing only boomers and seniors who were in the labour force. Downloading music was the third most common online leisure activity mentioned by both age groups, but was significantly less popular among seniors (15%) than among boomers (23%).

Seniors stay connected to news and events…

Although the 2007 data show that online seniors were less likely than boomers to use the Internet as a research tool in general, more than one-half of seniors used the Internet to find information on travel, health, news and sports, or the weather and driving conditions. The biggest difference was in researching community events online, which attracted only 27% of senior home users but 42% of boomers.

…but are less involved in community groups online

In 2007, almost half of seniors (48%) belonged to a community group, organization, network or association in their community in the 12 months prior to the survey. This was the case for fewer baby boomers (40%) (data not shown).

Community engagement is considered an important aspect of healthy aging¹² and the Internet represents one avenue for accessing content and services that may enhance users’ social participation.¹³ While seniors were more likely to be involved in these groups, fewer did so using the Internet. Among group members, a smaller proportion of seniors (10%) were involved in their group through the Internet than were boomers (22%) (data not shown).¹⁴

Seniors use government online information differently from other users

Seniors were less likely than other online Canadians to use the Internet from home to search for government information and to communicate with governments in 2007.¹⁵ Boomers and seniors accessing government information on the Internet also had different preferences for the types of information and services they used (Chart 2). While the proportion of these users who communicated with government departments or officials online was no different by age group, a significantly higher proportion of boomers accessed information on specific programs or services, and downloaded and submitted forms online. Boomers were also more likely to file census forms and tax returns online than seniors.

Chart 2 Activities of government online users, by age group, 2007

The Internet is a common source of retirement planning information for boomers

As individuals move closer to their retirement years, they may become increasingly interested in information on government retirement programs such as the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans (CPP/QPP), and Old Age Security (OAS).¹⁶

While governments move to providing more information online, there are a myriad of communications methods available that the government can use to disseminate information. Amongst the possible ways are: traditional mail, Internet, newspapers, radio, television, government service centres or telephone.

When asked about how they would want to receive government retirement information, more than 7 in 10 boomers and seniors who had not yet retired stated, they would like to get information by regular mail (Chart 3).

Chart 3 Methods for obtaining government information on retirement programs by never-retired persons, by age group, 2007

For the Internet, there was a significant difference between the two groups: 6 in 10 non-retired boomers stated they would like retirement information via the Internet compared to few non-retired seniors (57% versus 15%).

This difference suggests that the use of the Internet as an information source for government retirement programs may increase in the future as boomers enter their senior years. However, while the Internet has grown in popularity as a service delivery channel, evidence suggests that it complements, rather than replaces, traditional channels of citizen communication with government.¹⁷

Seniors active health information users, but look for different types of information

More than half of seniors who use the Internet searched for health information online, though proportionally fewer than baby boomers (52% versus 60%) (Table 1). An earlier study found that health information users tended to possess more online experience than Internet users who did not search for health information.¹⁸ Since seniors generally have less online experience than boomers,¹⁹ this may partly explain the gap in use rates.

For both boomers and seniors who searched for health information online – information on specific diseases was the most common type of information sought (Chart 4). Additionally, similar proportions of seniors and boomers who accessed health information online searched for information on drugs and medications, alternative therapy, the health care system and delivery, and information on surgeries. Boomers were more likely than seniors however to access health information related to lifestyle such as diet, nutrition, exercise and health promotion (49% vs. 36%), or to find information on the analysis of specific symptoms (47% vs. 38%).

Chart 4 Types of information searched by health information Internet users, by age group, 2007

Of those who searched for health information online and visited or communicated with a health care professional in 2007, 29% of seniors and 40% of boomers discussed the information they obtained online with their practitioner (data not shown).

Seniors not yet buying into e-commerce

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) continues to grow in Canada, although much of the value of online orders is concentrated among a relatively small group of users.²⁰ Internet shopping includes not only purchasing online, but also browsing products and services online to gather information ("window-shopping") for making future purchasing decisions, which may result in either an online or in-store purchase. About four in ten (41%) boomer Internet users placed orders online in 2007, and 56% said they window-shopped online for goods and services. These activities were much less common among seniors (Table 2).

Table 2 Electronic commerce, by age group, 2007

The most popular online purchases were travel arrangements and reading materials such as books, magazines and online newspapers. Similar proportions of seniors and boomers purchased reading materials (almost 40%); however seniors were significantly less likely to make travel arrangements online (38% versus 53% of boomers) (data not shown).

Boomers who placed orders online averaged about 8 orders during the year, significantly more than seniors. Among those who window-shopped on the Internet, more boomers (60%) than seniors (43%) said that their online window shopping later resulted in an in-store purchase from a retailer.

E-commerce may be related to levels of Internet experience as well as security concerns. The most active online consumers are less likely to report high levels of concern about online credit card use.²¹ Seniors tend to have less online experience than users under 65, and seniors and boomers alike also tend to express high levels of concern over Internet security. For example, similar proportions of boomers and seniors who owned credit cards (approximately 60%) said they would be very concerned about using their credit card online in 2007, significantly more than credit card owners aged 16 to 44 (46%) (data not shown).

In addition to the factors already mentioned, lower levels of e-commerce among seniors may also reflect wider consumption patterns.  Since seniors typically purchase less than boomers in general,²² the finding that seniors also spend less online is not unexpected. As an example, in 2007 senior households reported average total expenditures of $42,000, or about half the total spending by boomer households.²³

Which seniors are the most Internet-savvy?

Similar proportions of senior and boomer home Internet users went online for personal use for five hours or more in a typical week (approximately 40%). However, more boomers are employed and may have less discretionary time than seniors. When comparing only those online boomers and seniors who are in the labour force, similar proportions of each spent five hours or more online per week (38%). When considering those out of the labour force, the results for boomers and seniors were not significantly different (data not shown).

Yet although seniors and boomers did not differ in terms of the time devoted to Internet use from home, the range of online activities undertaken by each group differed. Of a possible total of 26 online activities, seniors averaged 7.6 activities while boomers averaged 10.1 activities.

Nevertheless, approximately one-half of online senior and boomer home users qualified as “intensive users,” at 47% and 53% respectively (see “What you should know about this study”). Similar proportions of boomers who were in the labour force and out of the labour force were intensive users (just over half). As well, among seniors, almost half of those in and half of those out of the labour force were intensive users.

The only significant difference found was between those not in the labour force. Indeed, 52% of boomers not in the labour force were intensive Internet users compared to 46% of non-working seniors (results not shown). While those not working may have more time to use the Internet for personal use, the intensity of use may be related to their previous workplace Internet experience.²⁴

Senior intensive users came from households with similar median income levels and had similar levels of educational attainment to other online seniors (nearly 30% in each group had a university degree). There were, however, gender differences between intensive and non-intensive senior Internet users.  Just over one-half of senior men who used the Internet from home were intensive users, compared with fewer senior women online (53% versus 39%). Among boomers who used the Internet from home, the gender gap was smaller, at 57% of men compared with 49% of women (results not shown).

Summary

In 2007, seniors were significantly less likely to be online than boomers, but the relative gap in Internet use rates between these groups has been closing from 2000 to 2007.

The increase in Internet use rates among older Canadians will likely persist as today’s seniors continue to adopt the Internet as an information tool. Additionally, because almost 80% of the baby boom generation are current Internet users, as these individuals age their continued use of the Internet is likely. These shifts, coupled with evidence that few online individuals later decide to cease using it, suggest increasing rates of Internet use among Canadian seniors.

While Internet use rates among Canadian seniors are likely to continue to increase, less is known about how specific patterns of online behaviour will change as boomers age. In every generation, the needs and preferences of individuals are likely to change as they age.²⁵ This study did not examine changes in online behaviour over time, but did find that online baby boomers and seniors differed significantly in the types of activities they perform online.

Whether seniors of tomorrow will spend more time online—on average—than do today's seniors, is not immediately clear. Overall, the fact that today's baby boomers generally engage in more online activities suggests that as the age cohorts move through time, Canadian seniors will have higher levels of Internet experience and increasingly diverse usage patterns. However, the extent to which these changes occur will vary with users' changing needs.

Ben Veenhof and Peter Timusk are analysts with Business Special Surveys and Technology Statistics Division at Statistics Canada.

Notes

1. Silver, C. (2001a). Internet use among older Canadians. Connectedness Series, 4. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 56F0004MIE.
   Silver, C. (2001b). Older surfers. Canadian Social Trends, 63. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-008-XIE.
   Sciadas, G. (2002). Unveiling the digital divide. Connectedness Series, 7. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 56F0004MIE.
2. Gilleard, C., and Higgs, P. (2008). Internet use and the digital divide in the English longitudinal study of ageing. European Journal of Ageing, 5(3), 233-239.
   Noce, A. A., and McKeown, L. (2008). A new benchmark for Internet use: A logistic modeling of factors influencing Internet use in Canada, 2005. Government Information Quarterly, 25, 462-476.
3. Several observations provide supporting evidence for the cohort effect. Up until now, relatively few people who start using the Internet stop using it. See:  McKeown, L., and Underhill, C. (2007). Dropping the Internet: Who and why? Innovation Analysis Bulletin, 9(2). Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 88-003-XWE; and, Crompton, S., Ellison, J., and Stevenson, K. (2002). Better things to do or dealt out of the game? Internet dropouts and infrequent users. Canadian Social Trends, 65. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-008. For example, 2007 Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS) data show that among Canadians 16 years and older, only 3% had used the Internet in the past but did not use it in the 12 months preceding the survey. At the same time, very few non-users expressed an interest in starting to use the Internet: only 11% of boomer non-users indicated that they planned to start using the Internet in the next year and 4% of seniors who were not yet online stated likewise. While non-users' plans to start using the Internet provide some indication of how use rates might change over time, panel data would be required in order to differentiate between age and cohort effects (Peacock and Künemund, 2007).
   Peacock, S. E., and Künemund, H. (2007). Senior citizens and Internet technology: Reasons and correlates of access versus non-access in a European comparative perspective. European Journal of Ageing, 4, 191-200.
4. This analysis considers relative growth rates. While the relative growth is highest among seniors, absolute differences in use rates persist and in some cases have widened. For example, there was a 46 percentage point difference in use rates between persons aged 45 to 54 and those 75 and older in 2000 (a 51% use rate minus a 5% use rate). By 2007, the difference had increased to 64 percentage points (an 85% use rate minus a 21% rate). However, in relative terms, the use rate among persons 45 to 54 was about 10 times that of persons 75 and older in 2000, but in 2007 was only about 4 times that of persons 75 and older. In other words, for some age groups the absolute difference in use rates increased over the time period, while the relative difference decreased.
5. Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2003.
6. In addition to the General Social Survey (GSS), data on individual Internet use rates by age group are also available from another source—the 2005 and 2007 Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS). The Internet use questions on the CIUS differ from the General Social Survey (GSS) in that they cover only personal, non-business use of the Internet, whereas the GSS data refer to Internet use in general. For this reason, the CIUS and GSS data are not directly comparable. However, the 2005-2007 CIUS data on personal Internet use reveal similar patterns: by 2007, the gap in use rates by age groups remained significant; and while the oldest age groups had the lowest use rates, they experienced the highest relative growth in use rates over the two-year period 2005 to 2007.
7. Peacock and Künemund. (2007).
   Dobransky, K., and E. Hargittai. (2006). The disability divide in Internet access and use. Information, Communication and Society, 9(3), 313‑334.
   Korupp, S. E., Künemund, H., and Schupp, J. (2006). Digitale Spaltung in Deutschland: Geringere Bildung-seltener am PC. DIW Wochenbericht, 19(6), 289‑294.
8. The logistic regression model was run using the 2007 CIUS target population of individuals aged 16 and older.  The full list of independent variables used in the model includes the following: age, educational attainment, household income quintile, labour force status (in or out of the labour force), urban-rural location, and sex.
9. Veenhof, B., Wellman, B., Quell, C., and Hogan, B. (2008). How Canadians' use of the Internet affects social life and civic participation. Connectedness Series, 16. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 56F0004MIE.
10. Howard, P., Rainie, L., and Jones, S. (2001). Days and nights on the Internet: The impact of diffusing technology. American Behavioral Scientist, 45, 450-472.
    Thayer, S., and Ray, S. (2006). Online communication preferences across age, gender, and duration of Internet use. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 9(4), 432‑440.
11. Hurst, M. (2009). Who participates in active leisure? Canadian Social Trends, 87. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-008-XIE.
12. Kahn, R., and Rowe, J. (1998). Successful Aging. New York: Pantheon Books.
13. Peacock and Künemund. (2007).
    Czaja, S. J., and Lee, C. C. (2007). The potential influence of the Internet on the transition to older adulthood.  In H.-W. Wahl, C. Tesch-Römer, and A. Hoff (Eds.), New dynamics in Old Age: Individual, Environmental, and Societal Perspectives (pp. 239-251). Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing.
14. Differences in this paragraph are statistically significant at p < 0.01.
15. A previous study using 2005 CIUS data found that less than one-half of online seniors used government online information, and more than one-half of users in other age groups did so. See: Underhill, C., and Ladds, C. (2007). Connecting with Canadians: Assessing the use of Government On-Line. Connectedness Series, 15. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 56F0004MIE.
    A similar pattern was also observed with the 2007 GSS data (not shown), which confirmed that online seniors were less likely than middle-aged adults to have used the Internet to access information on government programs and services, and also did so with less frequency.
16. For a study examining retirement planning by individuals using GSS 2007 data, see:  Schellenberg, G., and Ostrovsky, Y. (2008). 2007 General Social Survey report: The retirement puzzle: Sorting the pieces. Canadian Social Trends, 86. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-008-XIE.
17. Spears, G., Seydegart, K., Schmidt, F., and Zulinov, P. (2008). Citizens First 5. ERIN Research. Toronto: Institute for Citizen-Centred Service. Retrieved February 11, 2009 from http://www.iccs-isac.org/en/cf/index.htm
18. Underhill, C., and McKeown, L. (2008). Getting a second opinion: Health information and the Internet. Health Reports, 19(1). Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 82-003-XWE.
19. Fewer seniors who use the Internet from home have been online for five years or longer compared with boomers (60% versus 69%).
20. McKeown, L., and Underhill, C. (2007). Canada's top online spenders: Who are they and what are they buying? Innovation Analysis Bulletin, 9(1). Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 88-003-XWE.
    Statistics Canada. (2008b, November 17). E-commerce: Shopping on the Internet. The Daily. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-001-XIE.
21. Statistics Canada. (2008b).
22. Chawla, R. (2005). Shifts in spending patterns of older Canadians. Perspectives on Labour and Income, 6(12). Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 75-001-XIE.
23. Senior households have a reference person aged 65 and over. Boomer households have a reference person 45 to 64 years of age. Statistics Canada. (2007). 2007 Survey of Household Spending (custom tabulation).
24. McKeown, L., Veenhof, B., and Corman, J. (2008). Profiling Internet use among workers in the information and communications technologies sector. Innovation Analysis Bulletin, 10(1). Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 88-003-XWE.
25. Peacock and Künemund. (2007).
    Selwyn, N., Gorard, S., Furlong, J., and Madden, L. (2003). Older adults' use of information technology in everyday life. Aging Society, 23, 561‑582.