In 2020, COVID-19 and related shutdowns drove up the average number of hours spent on devices around the world. Average device usage has been on a downward trend ever since. Despite this, we continue to see a strong long-term trend of 40-60 hours per week of usage. This MetaFAQs considers how frequently Americans and global device users use their PCs, smartphones, and tablets. Report [TUP_doc_2022_0827_hour] in TUP Lenses: Devices, PCs, Mobile Phones, Tablets.
Technology profile of low-income workers (<$25k)
The COVID pandemic made clear many socioeconomic inequities between Americans, as the impact of the virus was felt differently in great part depending on their educational attainment, occupation, employment status, and other factors.
This TUPdate focuses on one segment – Americans with a household income of $25,000 or less – reporting their market size and profiling their usage of connected devices, which devices they do or don’t use, how much they use them, and the intensity of changes since before the pandemic.
Technology profile of low-income Americans in large households
The COVID pandemic made clear many socioeconomic inequities between Americans, as the impact of the virus was felt differently in great part depending on their educational attainment, occupation, employment status, and other factors.
This TUPdate focuses on one segment – Americans in households with 4 or more persons and a household income of $35,000 or less – reporting their market size and profiling their usage of connected devices, which devices they do or don’t use, how much they use them, and the intensity of changes since before the pandemic.
Technology profile of low income renters
During the pandemic, low-income American renters were a large segment of Americans strongly disrupted by shutdowns, work interruptions, and even evictions. This historically socioeconomically disadvantaged market segment has the potential to benefit from technology that can enable less dangerous occupations, although starting from lower-than-average market penetration levels. This MetaFacts TUPdate report details how far below average this segment is in their use of connected devices, which types of devices they are (and aren’t) using, and how often they’re using what they have. Furthermore, it quantifies how many online adults in this segment do (and don’t) work from home.
Technology profile of upper-income (>$150k) white male Americans
During the pandemic, socioeconomically advantaged groups changed their collection and usage of technology devices differently than historically disadvantaged groups. White male upper-income Americans already had higher-than-average technology device penetration. However, they have also been the first to reduce usage between 2020 and 2021. This TUPdate reports on this group’s status and change in connected devices by type – PCs, home PCs, work PCs, smartphones, game consoles, tablets, and feature phones. It also reports their work-from-home status, hourly device usage, number of devices, and market size.
Technology profile of upper-income ($150k+) American full-time employees
The COVID pandemic made clear many socioeconomic inequities between Americans, as the impact of the virus was felt differently in great part depending on their educational attainment, occupation, employment status, and other factors.
This TUPdate focuses on one segment – Americans working full-time for an employer and with a household income of $150,000 or more per year – reporting their market size and profiling their usage of connected devices, which devices they do or don’t use, how much they use them, and the intensity of changes since before the pandemic.
Demographics of those working from home [TUPdate]
Workers working from home are younger than average, more often married or coupled than single, and more likely to be a college graduate. This TUPdate reports on the age, marital status, and educational attainment of employees regularly working from home, as well as their household demographics: household size, income, presence of children, and ownership or rental of dwelling.
The work from home privilege [MetaFacts Pulse Survey]
By Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts
Working from home. While it is a blessing for some and may feel like a curse for others, only a few get the privilege. Being able to work from home during widespread public health safety shutdowns has sustained employment for many employees. It has also brought new challenges for those with school-age children or insufficient technology. It has also brought about faster adoption of certain technology products and services while revealing long-present sociological differences. The differences may persist while many of the technological changes will be temporary and evolutionary, not revolutionary.