Press Release: Women and the elderly are crossing the digital divide, but the poor still lag behind, says new EU report

Women overtook men between 2002 and 2004 in their pace of Internet take-up, according to a European Commission report published on 4 February 2005. The over 55s were also increasingly gaining computer skills, and this trend is set to continue. However, the poorly educated and poorly paid were not catching up as quickly and this is denying them new opportunities. Education, age and income remained the most important areas in the digital divide, the report said.