Keywords

1 Introduction

Over the last few decades, people in Western and Asian societies have experienced improved opportunities for consumption and leisure activities. In general, this has become possible due to a higher level of material wealth and education, the diffusion of mass media and modern household appliances, and increased life expectancy and health [1–3]. Indeed, many social scientists recognise the late 20th and the early 21st centuries as a period of mass consumption, during which we have witnessed a sharp rise in spending on various non-housing expenditures and recreational activities, such as holidays, eating out and cultural events [4–6]. More recently, we have also witnessed the rise of the new information and communication technologies known as ICTs.

ICTs are in many ways crucial for the future of advanced societies. The Internet in particular offers increased opportunities for information retrieval, social interaction and consumer expenditure. It can also provide possibilities for acquiring new skills, such as learning languages or finding novel past-time activities. In addition, the Internet is also considered as a vital tool in improving the services offered by public sector organisations. For example, it is believed that in future, Internet-based systems will soon provide the primary platform for receiving professional support on everyday health [2, 7].

The older population segments could offer us a feasible look at recent developments. In other words, the experiences of older people may have greater value on the societal level than the experiences of younger segments when mapping recent changes in ICT use. People who have recently retired or are retiring now, and have participated in the post-war consumer culture, are especially important in these respects. They play a key role here as they have more time to engage in various social activities than other age groups. Furthermore, many scholars across the world argue that attitudes towards consumption are changing rapidly and that one’s life course is losing its role as a major determinant of consumer behaviour [8–10]. Because of this, a profound investigation into older people’s online activities would provide useful information for a more general understanding of some of the key features of the ongoing information revolution.

Finland can provide a topical research context for studying the changing patterns of ICT use and social inequalities associated with the use of ICTs. This is because Finland is one of the Nordic countries that are often considered as welfare societies possessing social and economic equality [11, 12]. From a comparative perspective, Finland and other Nordic societies are characterised by a commitment to full employment for men and women, equality in terms of free participation in higher education, and the promise of universal social benefits for all citizens. Further, economic and social inequalities within Nordic societies are often considered to be relatively small. For instance, somewhat weak structural disparities have been found when the patterns of household expenditure on culture and recreation have been examined [3, 13, 14].

Focusing on an average consumer in Finland would probably offer us a relatively reliable measure of all consumers in the country. Regarding older population segments, however, we may also notice that Finland is currently ageing very rapidly. The current population projections suggest that by 2030, nearly half of the Finnish population will consists of those aged 50 and over [15]. In this article, we examine what kind of temporally durable, structural differences there are in the Internet use patterns among senior Finns. The empirical part of the article consists of the results of a nationally representative ‘ICT use by household and individuals’ survey (n = 7,810) collected by Statistics Finland. We examine the popularity of four different Internet use purposes (overall access, email, online banking and online shopping) from 2006 to 2014. In the analysis, we focus on respondents aged 55 to 74. This examination gives us a feasible opportunity to address some of the basic characteristics of ICT activity among the older population segments in Finland.

The article proceeds as follows. We first discuss the kinds of societal changes that have taken place in the Finnish information society in the early 2000s. This is followed by our empirical section where we describe the data analysed, the logic behind our analysis, and comment on the results. In the concluding section, we will summarise our results and refer to certain theoretical implications in our research, which deal with ageing and the use of the Internet.

2 Leisure, ICT, and the Aging Society

It has been noted that the fruits of affluence now take the form of time spent in distinctive leisure-time activities. It is also believed that leisure activities have become more important in expressing the individual’s place in social hierarchies and in the construction of social identities [4, 16, 17]. During the past decades, the Finns’ relationship with leisure has changed significantly in relation to attitudes, time-use and consumption expenditure. Spending on leisure has increased significantly [18–20] as well as the appreciation of leisure time in Finland [21, 22] as well as in many other countries [23, 24].

Several studies have indicated that the amount of leisure time has, generally speaking, increased during the past few decades across Western societies [25–27]. Additionally, the time use statistics from Finland demonstrate this trend when comparing the early 2000s to the 1980s. Nowadays, less time is spent working, while more time is devoted to leisure time than 20 years ago. Watching TV is still the most time-consuming leisure-time activity in Finland, although time spent watching TV has only increased among older Finns. The popularity of watching TV is followed in preference by social interaction, computer use, outdoor activities and exercising, reading and other leisure-time activities. However, it is also argued that leisure-time habits have, to some extent, changed over the last ten years. On the population level, Finns these days are less socially active and read less but do take part in more outdoor activities, while spending significantly more time at the computer [28–30].

Following the vigorous economic growth during the late 1990s, a rapid increase in the supply of ICT services can be witnessed in Finland and in many other countries. After the turn of the century, the Internet user rates have blossomed. We can observe this by simply looking at the statistics on the penetration of Internet access. For example, in 2001, the proportion of individuals aged 15 and over who had used the Internet at least once in past 3 months was approximately 50 % in Finland. By 2014, however, the share of the Finns aged 16 and over was 87 %, respectively. This indicates an increase of almost 40 % points in less than 15 years [15, 31].

However, we can argue that there are also other recent developments in Finnish society, which also require our attention. Namely, we also need to understand the changing role of ageing and the individual’s activities in later life. As it is well-known, recent improvements in working life, education and health care have transformed the population structures in Western societies. The first evidence of this comes from demography; the proportion of the retired population compared to those of working age has increased considerably in Finland over the last decades. In 1950, people under the age of 14 made up 30 % of the whole population, while those who were 65 and over accounted for only 6.7 % of the Finnish population. In 2014, the respective percentages were 16.4 for under 14-year-olds and 19.9 for those aged 65 and over [32, 33].

This demographic change results from the fact that the life expectancies of men and women born in Finland towards the late 1950s were 63 years and 69 years respectively; currently the respective life expectancies of Finns are 78 years for men and 84 years for women. Given this, Finland’s population is currently one of the most rapidly ageing of all EU countries [15, 34, 35]. However, in addition to having a longer life expectancy, people also have more opportunities after their retirement. This is to say that a relatively new life phase is emerging for older adults in which there is no longer employment or child rearing to take up one’s time and limit their activities [36]. According to many scholars, this ‘third age’ means, for many, a period for engaging in new cultural and educational pursuits [2, 37, 38]. What is most relevant is that today’s older people do not want to adopt consumption styles and leisure activities that are typical for older people, but rather, they want to actively participate in and keep up with contemporary consumer culture and also with new technology. Thus, age differences in leisure consumption might be blurring, as older people also want, in many respects, to take part in the similar activities that younger people do [39].

The general prosperity brought about in recent decades has provided an increased standard of living for almost everyone in Finland. In general, a higher standard of living has also served to diminish economic inequality between population segments; both the more and less educated, the old and the young alike. At the same time, however, socio-demographic differences still associate with the use of the ICTs. Indeed, a constant finding reported in research literature is that young, highly educated and well-off individuals are often the most frequent Internet users [3, 40, 41]. Older age groups, particularly those who are aged over the retirement age, are the least likely to ever access the Internet. But what kinds of disparities can we witness among senior citizens when examining the Internet use patterns by use purpose during the past few years?

3 Research Questions, Data and Methods

The aim of this paper is to examine some of the central characteristics of Internet use among the senior citizens in Finland during the time period between 2006 and 2014. Our main interest relates to the interconnections between Internet use purposes and the basic sociodemographic background of older population segments. The following three research questions were therefore formulated:

  1. 1.

    How did the senior citizens’ Internet use patterns change in general and according to age in Finland between 2006 and 2014?

  2. 2.

    How did the Internet use patterns connect with other basic socio-demographic factors in 2006 and 2014?

The data utilised were derived from the official Finnish statistics dataset ‘ICT use by individuals and households’ collected by Statistics Finland (n = 7,810). The data were primarily collected by phone interviews, however, data also include information derived from the population statistics, such as information on respondents’ age, gender, education, residence and income [33]. In our analysis, we focus on the older population segments, namely those aged 55 to 74.

As dependent measures, we utilise a total of four Internet use variables in the analysis: overall access, email, ebanking, and online purchases during the past 12 months or earlier. Each of these activities were measured using the dichotomous options ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Thus, these items only offer us a rough overview of information on Internet use patterns. For instance, they do not reveal anything about the frequency of the given use purposes. At the same time, however, this measurement is the most straightforward way to make a distinction between the online users and non-users.

Our independent variables include age, gender, education and income. Age was categorised into three groups, ‘55–64-year-olds’, ‘65–69-year-olds’ and ‘70–79-year-olds’. The 60–64-year olds are usually considered as representing the economically active population, although only approximately two out of five Finns in that age group are actually participating in working life. By the age of 65, most Finns have already retired. Education reflects the three educational levels of Statistics Finland’s official education categorisation, which are ‘bachelor/higher’, ‘secondary’ and ‘primary’. Income is also a relevant independent measure, as people younger than 65-years of age are typically in a better financial position than those who are older. However, older age contributes to greater possibilities for increased leisure time. In our analysis, we use a coarse classification of income quartiles, based on income from all household members. Finally, the variable ‘gender’ reports the sex of the respondents.

We may generally assume that the participation in most online activities will decline according to age. At the same time, we may also assume that the online activities have also become more common over time. However, is this really the case in Finland? As stressed in earlier studies, it is clear that age itself is interlocked with Internet activities [3, 38, 40], but we do not necessarily know what kind of associations actually exist among Finnish senior citizens. Therefore, we will use descriptive and explanatory techniques in order to understand this phenomenon slightly better. First, the aim of the analysis is to describe the interconnections between Internet use purposes and age over time. Afterwards, logistic regression models will be applied in the explanatory analysis.

4 Findings

The starting point of our analysis can be found in Fig. 1, which gives us the temporal trends of Internet penetration rates before and after 2006 (in percentages). In the figure, national penetration rate averages are calculated on the basis of citizens aged 15 and over [for details, see 33]. In addition, we also show a polynomial trend line for the actual annual increase. Starting from 2006, we also show three trends for the older age groups, 55–64-year-olds, 65–69-year-olds, and 70–79-year-olds, which are our focus here. As the figure shows, Internet use has indeed increased very rapidly in Finland since the turn of the millennium.

Fig. 1.
figure 1

Internet penetration rates in Finland, 1990–2014 (%)

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Figure 2 offers us a closer look at how different online activities among Finnish senior citizens have changed over time in the period between 2006 and 2014. The figure shows the differences between age categories. In overall Internet use, for instance, the difference between the 55–64-year-olds and the oldest age group, has diminished from 46 % to 24 % over the past 12 years. This means that the proportion of those who are using the Internet is growing faster within the oldest age groups. For example, between the years 2006 and 2014, the proportion of those who have used the Internet has increased from 67 % to 94 % among 55–65-year-olds, while at the same time, the proportion of Internet users has grown from 21 % to 70 % in the oldest age group. This means that the growth for 55–64-year-olds is about 27 % points between the years 2006 and 2014, while the growth for the oldest age group is over 50 % points in that time period.

Fig. 2.
figure 2

Senior citizens Internet use purposes by age, 2006–2014 (%)

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Similar trends also hold true for email use, the use of ebanking services and online purchases. The proportions of those who have performed the activities in question have grown faster in the very oldest group. It can be seen that the oldest citizens are catching up with the others in Internet use activities. In general, these findings are consistent with recent research on how digital divides change when time passes. It can be said that when new digital activities appear, they are first adopted by young, well-off and educated citizens. Over time, however, the older, disadvantaged and people with a lower education level also start to use the technology and services [41, 42]. These changes describe how digital divides grow wide and deep at first and then start to narrow when time goes by. However, this does not mean that the divides between different groups are going to disappear permanently, because these divides are always transformed again when new technologies or innovations emerge [42].

Tables 1 and 2 show the results of logistic regression main-effect tests for Internet use purposes in 2006 and 2014. The effects of the independent variables in the models are presented with the odd ratios (OR) and overall significance of the predictors with Wald’s chi square test (Wald’s χ2). The odds ratio is the increase, or decrease if the ratio is less than one, in the odds of being in one outcome category when the value of the independent variable increases by one unit [43]. Odds ratios are thus used to compare the relative strength of the independent variables. The statistical significances of the models are indicated in the table by chi square statistics (χ2). The pseudo-coefficients of the determination (Nagelkerke Pseudo R2) of the models are also reported in the tables.

Table 1. Internet use purposes among senior citizens in 2006 (logistic regression models with Wald’s χ2 and odds ratios [OR])
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Table 2. Internet use purposes among senior citizens in 2014 (logistic regression models with Wald’s χ2 and odds ratios [OR])
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When focusing on general Internet use, it can be seen that age and education level seem to hold the strongest effects in 2006, while education and income quartiles are the most significant in 2014 according to Wald’s χ2. In 2014, the differences between age groups have diminished, but still remain significant (p < 0,001). All in all, the pseudo-coefficients of the determinations indicate that senior citizens’ Internet use can be predicted rather efficiently by the selected independent variables in both years.

In addition, the second model explains senior citizens’ email use relatively well. As with the model explaining Internet use in general, the significance of age diminishes between 2006 and 2014. However, the significance of income and education increases between the ensuing years. In practice, this means that the differences between different income quartiles and education categories have increased. In the third model, we investigated senior citizens’ use of digital banking services. As in the models portraying Internet use in general and email use, in this model the significance of age also decreases in the latter model. Further, the significance of the education level decreases, while the income quartile’s significance increases slightly. Unlike the other models, the model representing online shopping better explains the share of variation in the year 2014 than in 2006. Further, the income quartile and education are also stronger in 2014 than in 2006.

The tables reveal that all background variables are statistically associated with Internet use activities, except for gender. The results indicate that the younger, the better off, and the more educated an individual is, the more likely they are to use the Internet for the selected use purposes. The results by age are hardly surprising; younger people are usually more interested in the new ICTs than older people [42, 44, 45]. The differences between the age groups have diminished over time. The differences in terms of education also demonstrate that those who have graduated from college or university are the most likely to use the Internet in a more diverse way. This is evident in both 2006 and 2014. In practice, this means that the citizens with tertiary education have over nine times the likelihood of using the Internet compared to seniors in the lowest education category. The pattern is also visible in other dependent variables. The results were in line with earlier theoretical and empirical studies, whereby educated people usually use and have used the Internet more regularly at work. Additionally, in many ‘white-collar’ jobs, personal computers, email and the Internet have been regular tools since end of the last century [42, 46, 47].

Differences according to income levels are also partly consistent with preceding research. However, we can witness an interesting temporal change here. The income quartile has become a more significant predictor of internet use activities in the year 2014 than it was in 2006. The odds for using the Internet in general, or for email, ebanking or shopping online, increase steadily from the lowest to the highest income quartile in both years. The odds ratio against the lowest income quartile in the second one is not statistically significant in any of the Internet use activities either in 2006 or 2014. However, the odds against the lowest and the highest income quartile grew in all Internet use activities between 2006 and 2014.

5 Conclusion

Earlier research suggests that the Internet plays a major role in terms of social participation by providing relatively easy access to information on various activities and events. In the near future, we expect to witness a remarkable extension of the software and application market, particularly in relation to services aimed at ‘grey consumers’. On the population level, the significance of this extension is significant because the Finnish population is ageing rapidly.

While the Internet and other ICTs are in many ways useful, their proliferation can also connect to pre-existing inequalities. In this context, such conceptions as ‘information haves’ and ‘information have-nots’ have been referred to. These conceptions basically mean that the new technologies are creating social problems simply because some individuals are less likely than others to use the new technology. The discussion on the digital divide is also relevant for the older segments of population. Technology gaps between those who have access to the new resources and those who do not are still being established. In this respect, governmental and other public online services, as well as commercial online activities, should be the most widely discussed topics when reflecting on the future development of the ICT for senior citizens.

Based on theoretical discussion about the changing faces of the digital divide, it can be said that all online activities examined in this study can be understood as ‘mature Internet activities’. This is because the growth of the proportion of users has slowed significantly or almost stopped among the youngest age groups in Finland. Despite the fact that the growth rate has slowed down among the younger citizens, the proportion of those who use the ICT is still growing among the older population segments.

In this study we relied on data from one country alone. In other words, further, comparative research is required both from an international and a domestic perspective. In general, however, the persisting connections between common online activities and socio-demographic characteristics provide us with an interesting finding in terms of the ageing welfare society. By encouraging senior citizens with tools and the means to use these services, there can be a pay off in the societal context, as general activity is usually associated with a better quality of life and life satisfaction.