Offline and Overlooked: Digital exclusion and its impact on older people.
In the digital age, everything from accessing services and shopping, to socialising and entertainment is taking place on the internet. So, what happens if you’re not online? You get overlooked and left behind. 4.7 million older people don’t have the basic skills needed to use the internet successfully.1 This includes being unable to complete fundamental tasks like logging on to a device or connecting to a Wi-Fi network. This enormous group faces an increasing risk of being excluded from daily life. Increasingly, even essential tasks are becoming really challenging for them, sometimes impossible. This report explores older people’s struggles in managing GP and hospital appointments, accessing council services, applying for benefits and accessing banking. Given the proliferation of services going digital by default, it’s no wonder older people tell Age UK they are feeling frustrated and disempowered.
