Facts about Latinos, the Digital Divide, and How the FCC Can Help Close the Opportunity Gap

On January 9, 2014, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), in collaboration with its partners in the VOICES for Internet Freedom coalition, will be hosting a live-streamed town hall event in Oakland, Calif. offering community members a unique opportunity to speak with recently-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler (click here for more event information and live stream access). NHMC urges media to draw attention to how telecommunications policies affect the Latino community, including those with disabilities, low-income families, entrepreneurs and small business owners, students and their parents.

Background: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the nation's communications, including radio, television, telephones, among others, and is responsible for ensuring that these communications systems are affordable and available to all Americans. Part of the FCC's mission is to expand access to broadband internet, which directly impacts access to economic opportunities for all Americans, including Latinos. With a population of nearly  million, Latinos are now more than 17% of the U.S. population, and the group's growing purchasing power is estimated to reach $1.5 trillion dollars by 2015. Yet, despite the growth in affluent Latinos, at the same time there are still large segments that face significant barriers to economic mobility:

• Latinos disproportionately live in poverty: 25.9% all Hispanics/Latinos, and Hispanic/Latino children and teenagers (34.1%) live in poverty, compared to 15.9% for all Americans and 22.5% of all American children and teenagers.

• The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households: in 2009, the typical Hispanic household had $6,325 in wealth (assets minus debts) and the typical white household had $113,149.

Lack of broadband means impeded access to economic opportunities: Today 100 million Americans, nearly a third of the population, do not have broadband at home. This digital divide - between those that have broadband and those that do not - is really an opportunity divide, which directly affects economic opportunity and mobility, especially for traditionally disadvantaged groups like Latinos:

• The Latino community has struggled to adopt broadband at home, with only 53% of all Latinos and 38% of Spanish-dominant Latinos having broadband at home.

• Latinos and African Americans are more than six times as likely as whites to use their mobile phones as their sole means to access the Internet.

• More than 80% of Fortune 500 companies (including huge employers like Wal-Mart and Target) only accept job applications online.

• In the next decade, nearly 80% of jobs will require some digital literacy skills.

• Students with broadband at home graduate at a rate 6-8% higher than students who lack such access.

• Consumers with broadband at home can save up to $7,000 per year on goods and services.

• Annual revenues of small businesses with broadband access are, on average, $200,000 higher than those without broadband.

• According to a 2008 survey, 77% of teachers responded that they or a colleague assigned homework that required Internet access to complete - and that number is certain to be rising.

• Notably, only 3% of teachers in low income schools believe that all or almost all of their students have the access they need at home to effectively complete assignments. And, surprisingly, only about half of teachers in upper middle or upper income schools believe that all or almost all of their students have sufficient access.

NHMC’s Advocacy and Media Availability: NHMC advocates for federal policies that ensure universal and affordable connections for all Americans, which includes regularly filing comments with the FCC and other government agencies to ensure that their policies’ impact on the Latino community is taken into consideration before making decisions. For more information, NHMC President & CEO Alex Nogales is available for media interviews in English or Spanish, and NHMC Executive Vice President Jessica Gonzalez is available for media interviews in English.  To schedule an interview, please contact Brian Pacheco at 626-792-6462 or (cell) 213-718-0732, bpacheco@www.nhmc.org.]]>