What Makes You Digital: The Effects of Family Relationships on ICT Use in Older Adults

Ageing is a global megatrend. Concurrently, there has been an increase in the use of digital tools that allow people to face issues commonly experienced in older age. Still, some aspects of this trend are to be fully understood, such as the sociodemographic determinants of Information and Computer Technologies (ICT) use in older age. In this respect, the present study aimed to assess to what extent having children is associated with older adults’ ICT use. Leveraging data from the Swiss part of the eighth wave and 2021 drop-off questionnaire of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this research demonstrated that having children is associated with higher probabilities of smartphone and messaging app use, as well as higher likelihood of using online banking and being involved in online leisure activities, such as watching videos or listening to the radio. These results hint to positive effects of kin availability on older people’s digital technology use.