Assessing the determinants of internet access among children in Uganda

Abstract

The research was designed to access the various determinants of access to internet among children in Uganda. This study used data from the Uganda National Household Survey 2019/2020 conducted by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) covering over 25,000 households in all 126 districts in Uganda at that time and excluding the population in institutions, refugee camps, forest reserves, police and army barracks, and other special areas. The results show that: out of all the children interviewed, only 22% had accessed the internet before. Out of the children who had accessed the internet, 51% were females and 49% were males. By age composition, 10-14 year olds accessed the internet most compared to other age groups. Children at lower educations level had high percentage proportions with no access. Percentage of children with access to internet significantly increased with increase in income Quintiles. Children in potential labour force were more likely to access internet than children not in potential labour force. Majority of the children did not own a mobile phone and therefore had no access to the internet. Lastly, majority of the children were involved in house chores and as a result, they shown low percentage proportions of access to the internet. Therefore, basing on the above findings, the study recommends that: government should redistribute income through review of the tax policy in order to minimize income gaps among households in Uganda and negative impact on children’s access to internet, further extension of education services to the rural areas and sensitizing communities to promote education, household heads should adjust household chores to ensure effective access to internet among children.