Ten million Brits have never been online

A new report from the Digital Inclusion team says that over ten million adults in the UK have never been online – almost half of that number due to their economic circumstances.

The government funded organisation, whose aim is to help disadvantaged Britons get connected to the Internet, said that because of this situation some of the country’s poorest are becoming poorer.

That’s because households with no Internet are missing out on savings of up to £560 a year, as shopping and paying bills online can generate some considerable discounts.

When totted up, the poorest four million non-online families are missing out on an estimated £1 billion per year savings.

The report, carried out by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, also said that being Internet literate can boost the average worker’s lifetime earnings by £8000.

It also examined the savings the Government could make if digitally excluded adults got online and communicated with them via email – a figure of some £900 million a year.

Martha Lane Fox, head of Digital Inclusion, told The Telegraph: “I think it is really important to show the economic argument behind getting people online. By being online there are massive savings for people personally, rich rewards for their career prospects and also big savings for the government.”