A US Health Department study has confirmed that most US citizens have completely stopped using landline phones — shocking no-one. In a report released today, the government revealed that 50.8 percent of American households are now cellphone-only, with just 39.4 percent using both a mobile and a landline. That leaves a measly 6.5 percent of US homes that just use a landline, with the remaining 3.2 percent not owning a phone of any kind. The declining interest in landlines likely has one major culprit: the smartphone.
When the same study was conducted ten years ago, just 15 percent of American households were wireless only. Given the meteoric rise of cellphones, the results of the latest report are hardly surprising. With people increasingly relying on smartphones for access to work emails, GPS and the utterly essential Tinder, that tethered, internet-free landline starts to look a little redundant in 2017.
The government’s survey reflected this, with over 70 percent of 25-34-year-olds reportedly only owning a cellphone. Strangely, adults living with children were more likely to be wireless-only than a household of just related adults. With at least one parent usually having to work, families with kids most likely rely heavily on cellphones to keep in touch on the go. Remember: there’s Facetime now.
As you’d expect with any consumer electronics study, income also plays a fairly large part here. Interestingly, adults who were close to or below the poverty were far more likely to be wireless-only than those who were well off. Although honestly, the landline probably isn’t the sexy status symbol that young people are striving towards.
Via: The Verge
Source: CDC
