Digital inequalities and young adults in Greater Jakarta: A socio-demographic perspective

Using data from a representative survey (N=3,006) and in-depth interviews (N=80), this paper examines the socio-demographic nature of the digital divide among young adults in Greater Jakarta. Results from the 2010 Greater Jakarta Transition to Adulthood Survey indicate that 85 per cent of respondents owned a mobile phone. Access to Internet and its purpose of use were strongly differentiated across socio-demographic lines including gender and education. Although 60 per cent of respondents had never used the Internet, 85 per cent of those who use the Internet access it on a daily basis, with mobile phones being the most common access point of the Internet. In support of the normalisation thesis, our multivariate analysis indicates that the gaps in access to mobile phones and the Internet between male and female are significantly smaller among younger respondents. Education, rather than gender, plays a pivotal role in explaining digital inequalities among young adults in our sample.