'Silver surfers' prefer internet to DIY and gardening

A survey carried out by AXA has found that retired people are browsing the internet rather then the traditional pastimes of gardening and DIY.

The AXA report, which looked at the online habits of retired people in 11 countries, calls these internet users 'silver surfers'. In the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, silver surfers are using the internet more than six hours a week.

In the survey, 41% of pensioners listed browsing the internet as their preferred pastime, ahead of gardening and DIY. To hell with the roses, this is fantastic!

Other findings were:

• Four in ten retired people are regular e-shoppers, with travel tickets the most popular item, with 45% regularly booking online.
  
  
• 84% use the internet for keeping in touch with friends and relatives via email. The next most popular online activity was 'looking for information', selected by 83%.
  
  
• 35% go online for banking activities.
  
  
• Pensioners in the US spend most time online, at an average of nine hours a week, closely followed by Canada and Australia at seven hours.
  
  
• The survey also found that pensioners in Italy, Spain were the least internet-savvy, spending an average of only 2 hours a week online.
  

Alison Green of AXA is encouraged that more retired people are seeing the benefits of internet use:

"The potentially arduous task of struggling with the shopping is becoming less of an issue as retirees can simply log onto their computers and select groceries at their leisure."

According to Ofcom stats from July 2006, just 28% of people over the age of 65 have home internet access, lower then the average of 57% for the UK as a whole.

Further Reading:
Internet Statistics Compendium - January 2007

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