The Changing Digital Divide in Germany

Abstract

The German Socioeconomic Panel Study (GSOEP) allows a detailed analysis of PC ownershipand Internet use by means of 12,000 households which were surveyed in 2000 (in1998 and 1999 about 7,000 households were surveyed). Private Internet use in Germanyis spread across all social strata, however, there are substantial differences with respectto the level of education and age. Use of the PC and the Internet at home and in theworkplace is more prevalent in West Germany than in East Germany and Germans alsouse computers more than foreigners living in Germany. There appears to be strong evidencefor the hypothesis that teens who use a PC and/or the Internet do not do so atthe expense of what most wou..