Growth in mobile news use driven by older adults
Even though a large number of older adults are getting news on mobile devices, that doesn't mean they prefer it. Across all adults, a clear majority of those who get news on both mobile devices and desktop/laptop computers prefer to get their news on mobile (65%). But those 65 and older are the only age group in which less than half prefer to do so: Only 44% prefer mobile, compared with about three-quarters of those 18 to 29 (77%), figures that have remained steady for both groups over the past year. In the next-highest age group, those 50 to 64, about half now prefer to get their news on mobile (54%), up from about four-in-ten (41%) a year ago.
Large increases in mobile news use have also occurred among those with lower household incomes. About eight-in-ten adults with household incomes below $30,000 (79%) get news on mobile, double the portion of those who did so four years ago (37%). Even so, this is still lower than those with higher household incomes: About nine-in-ten of those with household incomes of $30,000 or more now get news on a mobile device.
The other major digital platform for news is the desktop or laptop computer. Here, the 85% of all adults who ever get news on a computer is about the same portion that did so in 2013 (82%), with small or no significant changes by age or income from 2013 levels.
