Study Shows Increase In Cell Phone-Only Households
Posted on May 4, 2011 by Christopher Lee
Tags, Telecommunications and CUB Connects
Does your home have a landline?
If you are like 30.6% of Oregon households that are “wireless only”, then the answer is no. Oregon is at the forefront of a national trend that has seen a transition away from residential landlines to an increasing number of households that exclusively use cell phones. According to a report by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “As of the first half of 2010, more than one in four American households (26.6%) had only wireless telephones— an eightfold increase over just 6 years”. Across the nation, the number of “wireless only” households is now much larger than the number of households with landlines only, which is 12.9%. The CDC reports that this gap will continue to grow as the number of landline only houses declines, and as more mixed-use households become wireless only.
Why would the CDC study this?
Part of CDC’s mission is to prevent and control disease. In order to do this, CDC conducts research to enhance prevention efforts. However, most of CDC’s research is conducted through random digit dial phone surveys that only reach landline phone numbers. In order for CDC to follow its mission, it needs accurate research data from its phone surveys that accounts for both landline and wireless only households. As Stephen J. Blumberg –lead author of the CDC study -states, “These findings are important to CDC because many of our largest surveys are done on calls to landline phone numbers. All of those adults with only cell phones are being missed in these surveys.” If adults with only cell phones are left out of the survey then they might also be left out of the prevention and control strategy. Accurate research data will help the CDC be more effective.
Who isn’t being included?
The nationwide data shows that Home ownership and household structure are likely contributors to “wireless only” houses. Young adults (18-34) and individuals below or near the poverty line are also more likely to live in wireless only households.
Percentage of adults living in wireless-only households by poverty status (Jan-Jun 2010):
Poor 39.3%
Near Poor 32.9%
Not Poor 21.7%.
Percentage of adults living in wireless-only households by age group (Jan-Jun 2010):
Age 18-24 39.9%
Age 25-29 51.3%
Age 30-34 40.4%
Age 35-44 27.0%
Age 45-64 16.9%
Age 65 5.4%
Percentage of adults living in wireless-only households by household structure (Jan-Jun 2010):
Adult living alone 33.5%
Unrelated adults, no children 69.4%
Related adults, no children 19.1%
Adult(s) with Children 26.9%
Percentage of adults living in wireless-only households by home ownership status (Jan-Jun 2010):
Owned or being bought 15.5%
Renting 47.1%
Other arrangements 34.9%
A Breakthrough and New Challenges:
The same CDC report states that wireless telephone numbers can now be included in random digit dialing surveys. The good news is that this will allow the CDC to gather data from all demographics. However, this new feature also presents many challenges and questions. For instance, will wireless surveys achieve the same result and success as landline surveys? Do wireless surveys need to be conducted differently? How can wireless survey data be incorporated with data collected from landlines to give an accurate account of the US population? As seen above, surveys performed exclusively on landline phone numbers will not account for demographics that are underrepresented, such as adults under 35 or those below or near poverty. However, the same demographics might be overrepresented if wireless survey data is not properly weighted in comparison to landline data. To solve this problem the CDC releases a report every 6 months that provides the most up-to-date estimates available from the federal government concerning the size and characteristics of the wireless-only population. This bi-annual report will help the CDC and other agencies more accurately combine data sets, but will also add an additional layer of complication.
How this Impacts Oregonians:
As a state, Oregon has the 7th highest percentage of adults living in wireless only households at 30.6%. The national average is 26.6%, which ranges from a low of 12.8% in New Jersey and Rhode Island to a high of 35.2% in Arkansas. However, even with such a high prevalence of wireless only households, Oregon does not have a high poverty rate or a particularly young population. Oregon’s poverty rate in 2009 matched the national average and was ranked 25th highest of the 50 US States and Puerto Rico. The median age in Oregon is 37.7 compared to the national median age of 36.5. Homeownership and household structure likely play a role in Oregon’s high wireless use, but, the 67.1%, home ownership rate is actually slightly above the national average of 66.4%, ranking 37th for all states. There may be other factors at play, but this means that Oregonians are ahead of the curve when it comes to going wireless.
As the communications technology changes, consumers are faced with overwhelming options for services. Whether you are shopping for a new wireless plan, looking to change your service or trying to stay up-to-date with Oregon telecom news, CUBconnects.org can help.
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03/23/17 | 0 Comments | Study Shows Increase In Cell Phone-Only Households