Generation Gap

The generation gap is about age: who grew up with digital technology, and who's had to pick it up along the way, often with little support.

Worldwide, 82% of 15–24-year-olds use the internet, compared with 72% of everyone else.1 In the UK, 95% of 18–24s can do all the basic tasks needed to get online; among over-75s, 54% can.2 Nearly 1 in 5 people over 65 use the internet less than once a month or not at all, rising to 30% of those who live alone and 32% of older Black people.3

This isn't about ability. The share of over-75s with those basic skills has risen from 31% to 54% since 2022.2 And people over 65 are more likely to learn by asking someone (45%) than by teaching themselves (31%), which is how we teach.2

Meanwhile, more and more services are online only. Older people told Age UK they now struggle with basic things like paying for parking, applying for a Blue Badge, and getting a GP appointment. Drawing on that evidence and its work with older people across the country, Age UK is calling for a guaranteed offline option for every public service, including the NHS and councils.3

We work alongside older adults on the barriers above, with training built for a generation that didn't grow up with any of this.

Sources

  1. ITU, Facts and Figures 2025: Youth Internet use (October 2025). ↩︎
  2. Lloyds Banking Group and Ipsos, Essential Digital Skills 2025. ↩︎
  3. Age UK, Age UK warns 2.4 million digitally excluded older people are at risk... (press release, 29 July 2025). ↩︎