Lack of Internet access grows in pandemic and exacerbates inequality

The pandemic has aggravated the inequality in Internet access in Brazil, which can leave social scars in children and young people: with the digital exclusion and the disparity in access to education, the risk that children will not be able to earn more than their parents when adults increases. The alert is from the Institute for Mobility and Social Development (IMDS), recently created by economists Arminio Fraga, former president of the Central Bank, and Paulo Tafner.

The data cross-referenced by the institute show that only 29.6% of the children of parents who had no schooling have access to broadband. In households where parents have higher education, this share rises to 89.4%. What's more, 55% of the children of unschooled parents do not have access to the Internet. The percentage of children with no access drops to 4.9% when parents hold college degrees.

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