The digital divide in Italy: a gender and territorial problem (ISTAT)

Several studies have highlighted how in Italy so far there is a significant gender gap in favour of men with respect to ICT diffusion. In fact, in 2022, 78.7 per cent of men aged 11 and over, compared to 72.8 per cent of women of the same age, say they regularly access the Internet. However, it should be emphasised that it is precisely among women in all age groups (with the exception of 11-14 year olds) that the greatest growth was recorded especially between 2020 and 2021. The gender gap has thus narrowed to zero for 20-54 year olds, while among the elderly the disparities remain wide: from age 65 onwards, the female disadvantage is about 10 percentage points. These gender differences are in addition to strong territorial differences and gaps. In fact, it is observed that the North-east and South distance in Internet use is 8.4 pp and that in all Italian regions Internet use is always higher for men than for women. The paper presented here aims to show these dynamics in order to highlight the existing gender and territorial inequalities.