In the U.S., the lower the household income, the less likely a teen in that household is to own or have access to a laptop or desktop computer. We may think that in America, everyone has a computer, even teenagers – but nothing beats smartphones. What teens own depends on their socioeconomic status, according to the Teens, Social Media and Technology 2018 study, conducted in March/April 2018 by the Pew Research Center.
What the research found was that in households with an annual income less than $30,000, a teen is much less likely to own or have easy access to a laptop or desktop computer (only 75%). That same teen is much more likely to have a smartphone (93%). Even a gaming console was more likely to be present in that home (85%).
When income is between $30,000 and $74,999, smartphone ownership remains the same, but PC ownership/access reaches 89%. In households with incomes over $75,000 per year, 97% of teens own a smartphone and 96% have a laptop or desktop computer.
As for the demographic data, the research showed that it is more likely for a teenage girl to have a smartphone (97%) compared to a teenage boy (93%). However, the percentage of boys who have computers is slightly higher than that of girls (89% versus 88% of the girls).
There is no significant difference in the age group 13 to 14 years (94% smartphones, 88% computers) or in the group 15 to 17 years (95% smartphones, 88% computers).
The research also studied cases of teenagers using mobile phones, which however are not smartphones. The usage rates are much lower, but still, families with income less than $30,000 prefer them for their teenage children (38%). This rate drops to 24% for households with annual income $75,000 and above. And these mobile phones are used more by girls (31%) compared to boys (27%).
Wondering what the favorite online platforms of teenagers were for 2018? A quick review showed that in all households YouTube (85%) dominates, followed by Instagram (72%), Snapchat (69%), Facebook (51%) and Twitter (32%).
