Nowadays, digital skills are essential for taking part in society as a citizen: declaring your income, looking for a job, setting up your own business, and so on. The majority of administrative procedures are now carried out online. But what about people who don’t know how to use these digital tools ?

Illiteracy, a cause and consequence of social exclusion

Digital illiteracy, also known as illectronism, is a taboo that affects the most vulnerable. It results from an individual’s inability to use everyday digital tools. This phenomenon affects 17% of the population, or almost 13 million people in France, according to INSEE.

It is essentially due to social, territorial and generational factors. Indeed, 50% of non-internet users live in towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, and 34% of people with few or no qualifications are affected by this phenomenon.

In the age of the all-digital, the digital divide and illiteracy further deepen already existing inequalities and reinforce the exclusion of already fragile people, since 16% of the most modest households are faced with illiteracy, compared with 4% of the most affluent households.

Worse still, according to a survey published in November 2018, digital technology is perceived by respondents as more of an excluding factor (39%) than an inclusion factor (18%).

Inequalities widen in times of crisis

As the health and social crisis continues to unfold in France, the consequences of the digital divide and illiteracy are devastating.

At a time when education is increasingly distance learning, 1 in 4 modest families do not have the necessary equipment for their children’s schooling. Aware of this reality, Break Poverty has set up the Réussite Connectée operation in partnership with AFEV and Bouygues Télécom, to help disadvantaged young people overcome both their material inability and their lack of digital skills. The aim is to offer the same chances of success to every young person, whatever their background.

To support young people in difficulty, click here.

Crédit photo : Indian stock images, Shutterstock.