Digital and Social Exclusion
Ipsos was commissioned by Carnegie UK Trust to explore the relationship between digital exclusion – lacking access to online resources and services – and social exclusion. Social exclusion encompasses a range of impacts but broadly describes a situation where individuals are unable to participate fully in social life to the detriment of individuals and society as a whole.
The research comprised three elements:
- A literature review that summarises the available literature on the relationship between digital and social exclusion.
- Initial analysis of the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) 2015 to assess the availability of data and identify potential indicators of social exclusion.
- Further analysis of Scottish Household Survey 2015 data using logistic regression and CHAID to examine whether digital exclusion is a driver of different dimensions of social exclusion.
The research showed that internet access is a significant factor in four of the dimensions of social exclusion, although relatively weak. The relationship was strongest in the active lifestyle dimension of social exclusion, but was also significant in the transport (in relation to access to cars rather than in use of public transport) mental health, and being socially connected dimension. This supports the view that digital exclusion and social exclusion are linked and suggests that digital participation has a positive impact on some of the dimensions of social exclusion.
