Canadian anti-poverty advocates call for affordable Internet

The high cost of home Internet services is taking a bite out of food budgets for low-income Canadians, new survey shows.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2016/02/02/canadian-anti-poverty-advocates-call-for-affordable-internet.html

Good information and stories here about the people who use libraries’ internet who don’t have it at home or work.

Some of the data from ACORN study:

Bridging the Digital Divide

58 Percentage of Canadian households with annual incomes of $30,000 or less with home Internet access.

98 Percentage of Canadian households with annual incomes of $120,000 or more with home Internet access.

83.5 Percentage of ACORN survey respondents who find high-speed Internet “extremely expensive.”

59 Percentage of survey respondents who pay for Internet by forgoing other household necessities.

71 Percentage who used food money to pay for Internet services.

64 Percentage who used recreation money to pay for Internet services.

13 Percentage who used rent money to pay for Internet services.

Source: ACORN Canada, Statistics Canada