Abstract:

The new millennium is characterized by an increase in the accessibility of Information and Communication Technologies all over the world. However this access to ICT has not been equal for the different groups of our societies. In postindustrial societies can be found many educational and economic-related inequalities that are associated to the use of these technologies. This work uses data from the European Social Survey to analyze the relationship between the skills, the risk position in the labor market (insider vs. outsider) and other contextual determinants (GDP, public social expenditure, ICT investment and education), to explain differences on Internet usage in Europe. The results highlight the association of these individual and contextual factors, and specially demonstrate the relevance of skills and insiderness for both social and digital inclusion. This research offers an explanation for the emergence of social cleavages due to skills and occupational differences and how these factors are related with the digital competence of groups in post-industrialized societies.

Keywords:

Digital Divide, social exclusion, labor market dualism, net usage, skills, ICT.