关键词: 城镇老年人, 网络接入, 网络使用, 学习上网途径, 上网设备

Abstract: The number of older Internet users in urban China has increased rapidly in recent years, while the prevalence of Internet usage among older adults is still much smaller than developed countries. Using data from 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, we find great gender, age, and education differences among the older adults in internet access, internet use, and ways of learning Internet. Older urban netizens use Internet frequently. Most of them use the Internet to socialize or search for information, while a small proportion of them try online shopping. Most of older urban netizens use mobile phones to get online. They learn about Internet use by themselves or asking for help from their family members rather than referring to resources outside household. The Internet use of older adults in urban China is largely affected by their individual attributes, family characteristics, socio-economic status, equipment and technical conditions, and their own interest in using smart devices. Based on these findings, we suggest that, to encourage the Internet use among older adults, producers should enhance the quality and types of services designed for older adults, and the community should play a more important role in promoting the Internet use among older adults.

Keywords: Urban Older Adults, Internet Access, Internet Use, Learning Using Internet, Internet-connected Devices