Digital divide challenges of children in low-income families: The case of Shanghai

Abstract

This research article explored the issue of the digital divide in Shanghai with particular attention to children from low-income families. It examined whether a difference in the Internet access of children was associated with their academic and psychosocial attributes. Data were collected from a household survey with a representative sample of 796 low-income and 799 nonlow-income families with children aged 9–17 in Shanghai. Our findings suggest that the digital divide for low-income children in Shanghai is getting smaller or even closing, but the urban–rural divide might be a factor in aggravating digital exclusion. Preliminary group comparisons show that low-income-no-Internet children reported significantly lower scores on all dimensions of digital literacy, academic performance, aspirations, perceived efficacy, self-esteem, family and peer relationships. On the contrary, low-income children with Internet access did not show significant differences with nonlow-income group across all dimensions. While we cannot conclude that there is a direct relationship between Internet access and improved developmental outcomes, the strength of the association suggests that there may be value in efforts being focused on assisting families in the lowest income strata, and on agricultural household registration, to acquire home Internet access.