In the US, close to 14 million people over the age of 50 now have Internet access. The "grey" or "seniors" consumer group, as it is commonly referred to, has taken to the Internet wholeheartedly and is proving an extremely lucrative market for online business. This situation is not mirrored yet in Ireland, where the Internet remains an abstraction for most of the older generation. "Overall, about 15 per cent of the Irish adult population is now online, however, as you go up the age curve, this drops off sharply," says Gerard O'Neill, managing director of Amarach Consulting, an Internet research company. "By the time you reach 60 to 65, just 3 to 5 per cent of that age group are online." The most popular online activities for older users in the US are sending and receiving email, accessing the news, researching financial investments, and conducting travel research, according to a study by the non-profit organisation, SeniorNet (www.seniornet.com). These users are also more likely to buy online than any other age group. It's a hobby that has taken off right across America.
The older end of the Internet population in Ireland, however, fits a narrower profile. "Most of this group live in Dublin or the surrounding areas and are typically early retirees with high incomes. They are also predominantly men," according to O'Neill. There is another common trait: "Parents with grown-up children and grandchildren living abroad are the older people that, nationally, are getting most turned onto the Internet." As a communication and shopping tool, the Net offers many opportunities for older people, particularly those who are housebound, live in isolated areas, alone or far away from their families. Social structures in Ireland, however, have militated heavily against the Net. Technology is frightening for many older people. "In Ireland, the older generation, specifically the over 60s, grew up with very little technology as well as in a climate of severe economic restraint. So there are all sorts of fears and perceptions about technology and the cost of telephone charges," notes O'Neill. Amarach has found the situation to be very different in the 40-to 50-year-old age bracket. "Compared to the over-60s, there is quite a high level of penetration in this group, in the main because their young adult and teenage children are demanding Internet access," says O'Neill. "As they approach retirement this group will be experienced Internet users as a result." It seems that they will eventually become Ireland's first wired "grey" generation.
"The basic difference between the US and Ireland is the pervasive and innovative nature of technology in US society. The family structure has also been a major incentive for people to go online. The population is very mobile, with many children living in different states from their parents, often thousands of miles away," says O'Neill. "In Ireland, there is not the same distance factor, except in the case of those people whose children or siblings have emigrated and, in keeping with the US trend, this group have been the quickest of the oldest generation to go online." Research has repeatedly indicated that email is the biggest draw for older people going online. It's all about staying in touch. Miriam and Jim O'Donnell bear out Amarach's findings. In their mid-60s, they run their own business in Mullingar and have four grown-up children, all of whom have lived abroad in such places as New York, Venezuela and Paris. Email has proved an ideal way for the O'Donnells to keep in contact with their children, minimising the problems posed by international telephone bills and time differences.
"Email is so easy and efficient to use," says Miriam. "It avoids the whole hassle of organising a pen, paper and stamp for a letter, not to mention remembering to post it. But I don't use email just to keep in contact with the kids, my sister lives in Dallas, and I email her regularly."
It was their business that brought the O'Donnells online over three years ago and learning about the new technology in this context made the overall experience easier. Few people in their age group have Internet access in the area unless it is business-related. Online access is even less common among older women. Most of Miriam's peers are not online, nor is it something they plan to do, she believes: "Women of my generation had to leave work when they got married and unless they've since become involved with a family business or gone back to work, most have a mental block about using a computer."
There are other obstacles, however, that stand between the older generation and the Internet. Little has been done to raise older people's awareness of the Internet. Local learning and support structures would also encourage older people to go online. In addition, for those dependent on a state pension, the cost of going online remains prohibitive - regardless of people's willingness to try the Internet. Sheila Joyce lives in Galway and is in her late 60s. Two of her sons live in the US, but the Internet, she believes, is not for her. "I wouldn't know where to start with a computer - I'd never pick it up at this stage," she says. This seems to be a common misconception, since so few people her age have had the chance to try it.
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