Socio-economic inequality and differential access to digital technologies for girls and boys in Argentina

Abstract

Socio-economic inequality in Argentina between children and families, as in most countries, is a structural fact that has been measured since measurable data has been available. This inequality is expressed both through monetary poverty, which in Argentina currently exceeds 60% of the population under 18, and in non-monetary deprivations that affect more than half the country’s children. The pandemic and the confinement measures imposed by the national government included closing schools, as did other countries, which reinforced a dependence on connectivity in order to give continuity to the educational process. Given that access to connectivity and its effective use are strongly related to the socioeconomic group to which children and adolescents belong, it was to be expected that confinement measures would affect economically disadvantaged children more than others. The available data show that this, in fact, is what occurred. However, it also showed an overall increase in access to and use of digital technology that was even more intense in social groups with lower incomes and greater rights deprivations. This article aims to document and analyze this process with longitudinal data covering the period 2016-2020, with special emphasis on the latter years.