The female US internet user population grew at a faster rate than the overall Net population in December last year, according to new data from Nielsen//NetRatings released last week.
Gender breakdown of US home internet population, December 2001 (million) | |||
December-00 | December-01 | % Growth | |
Female | 50.4 | 55.0 | 9.1 |
Male | 48.2 | 49.8 | 3.3 |
Total active universe | 98.6 | 104.8 | 6.3 |
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, December 2001 |
Whilst females have made up the majority of US Net users since last year, it is still males that spend the longest time online. In December, men spent 24% more time using the web, at an average of 11 hours across the month; women clocked up an average of 9 hours online.
“Men spent more time online, logged on more often, and accessed more content than women, despite being out-numbered by the female internet population by more than 5.2 million surfers,” said Dawn Brozek, senior internet analyst, NetRatings. “Generally speaking, women shoulder a majority of the household responsibilities and therefore, face a ‘time poverty’ at home, with less leisure time than men to spend on activities such as surfing the internet.”