How often do internet users go online?

Questions 65 and 66 asked respondents who had previously said they used the Internet how often they used it for work, and how often they used it for personal reasons. Table 12 indicates that respondents are considerably more likely to use the Internet for personal than work reasons. It should be noted that the responses to the first question are quite polarised: the two extreme answer options of 'at least once a day' or 'never' (excluding 'Don't know') account for 75% of the responses.

Table 12: Frequency of Internet use in general

The gender difference for Question 65 was quite marked, with males significantly more likely to use the Internet for work every day (43.4%) and females significantly more likely to say they never use the Internet for work (39.3%). In contrast, females were significantly more likely to say they used the Internet 'At least once a month but not every week' at Question 66 (9.1%) and there was no significant response for men.

While there were no significant ethnicity-related differences in regards to use of the Internet for work, New Zealand Europeans were significantly more likely to use the Internet for personal reasons more than once a week but not every day.

There were a number of significant results for Internet use at work in relation to age. Those aged 30-39 and 40-49 were significantly more likely to say that they use the Internet for work every day (44.1 and 42.7% respectively). As may be expected, those aged 60-69 (41.6%) and 70+ (47.6%) were significantly more likely to respond that they never use the Internet for work.

The only significant age-related result regarding use of the Internet for personal reasons was that 12.1% of people aged 60-69 use the Internet at least once a month.

Those earning over $50,000 per annum were more likely to use the Internet for work every day, as were those with higher degrees. In regards to using the Internet for personal reasons, respondents on student allowances and those earning over $80,000 were significantly more likely to use the Internet every day. Respondents living with partners and those with Bachelor's degrees were more likely to use the Internet for personal reasons at least once a week, but not every day.

When examined in relation to urbanisation, it is apparent that city-dwellers (1787) use the Internet at least daily significantly more frequently than the other groups (736), and conversely, were significantly less likely to report that they never use the Internet for work (622). The reverse was the case for those living in towns. There were no significant results for people living in the country. There were also no significant differences between groups on question 66 - use of the Internet for personal reasons. South Islanders were significantly less likely to use the Internet on a daily basis (35%) and more likely to say that they never use the Internet (39%), whereas upper North Islanders were significantly more likely to use the Internet at least once a day (40.5%). There were no significant differences when comparing geographical location by work or personal reasons.

Government employees were unlikely to report that they never use the Internet, and significantly likely to report that they use it daily.