In the US, it might seem like everyone has a personal computer, even teens—but nothing beats the smartphone. What teenagers actually do own depends somewhat on their socio-economic status, according to the Teens, Social Media, and Technology 2018 study from Pew Research Center conducted in March/April 2018, and quantified above by our partners at Statista.
What Pew found was that in households with an annual income of less than $ 30,000, a teenager in the home is far less likely to own or have ready access to a laptop or desktop PC, at only 75 percent. That same teen is far more likely to have a smartphone (93 percent) within reach. Even a game console was more likely in this low-income home than a computer, at 85 percent. (That’s called using the PS4 as a baby-sitter.)
When the income shoots up to between $ 30,000 and $ 74,999, the smartphone ownership percentage stays the same, but PC ownership/access goes up to 89 percent. In households with income over $ 75K per year, 97 percent of teens have a smartphone, and 96 percent have a laptop or desktop.
This chart doesn’t go into it, but the teen demographics also indicate that it’s more likely for a female teen to have a smartphone (97 percent) than a male teen (93 percent). Yet more teenage boys (89 percent) have PCs than girls (88 percent). (You’ll be shocked to hear that more boys have game consoles, too: 92 versus 75 percent for girls. Apparently, not enough Nintendo Switches are gifted at Sweet Sixteen parties.)
There isn’t a lot of difference in the age group of 13- to 14-year-olds (94 percent with smartphones, 88 percent with PCs) or 15- to 17-year-olds (95 percent have smartphones, 88 percent with PCs).
The survey also asked about teens using feature phones (a.k.a. a “cellphone that is not a smartphone”). The percentages of use are much smaller across the board, but again, those families making less than $ 30K favor them for teens, with 38 percent using them in that bracket; it goes down to 24 percent in households making $ 75K per year and up. Feature phones also have a higher showing with girls (31 percent) than boys (27 percent).
Wondering what are the favored online platforms of the teens of 2018? A quick snapshot across all households shows that YouTube leads (85 percent), followed by Instagram (72 percent), Snapchat (69 percent), Facebook (51 percent), and Twitter (32 percent). The rest are all single-digit percentages; Tumblr just isn’t cool with the kids.
