Digital exclusion worsens cost of living crisis

A new ‘explainer’ from Understanding Society sets out how our data has been used in a report by the Centre for Social Justice: Left Out – How to tackle digital exclusion and reduce the poverty premium.

The report says not being able to access the internet easily “intensifies the pain of the cost-of-living crisis for low-income households which are already paying hundreds of pounds more for basic goods and services”, and recommends ways for the government to tackle the problem.

The findings in the report suggest that:

• 3.1 million UK households do not have access to the internet from home – a problem known as ‘digital exclusion’
• without this, accessing cheaper goods and services online is considerably harder
• ‘offline’ consumers could pay 114% more for a SIM-only phone contract, and 29% more for train tickets
• this is most likely to affect poorer consumers and over 65s, increasing their likelihood of paying more for basic goods and services.

Earlier research from the same think tank showed that those on the lowest incomes pay more for basic goods and services. Almost seven million people in Britain pay these ‘poverty premiums’, costing them about £478 a year. The problem is closely linked to digital exclusion, which makes it more difficult to shop around for the best deals.

This report recommends ways in which government policy could tackle digital exclusion, including:

• a new Digital Inclusion Strategy from the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology
• more action to help people donate used devices for refurbishment – with the government leading by example and wiping and recycling its own devices
• improving ‘right to repair’ regulations to make more refurbished devices available more cheaply.

Read the case study

This research used Understanding Society data from Wave 12

Income and expenditureInforming PolicySocial mobility