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.
The report shows that the number of female users rose by 9.1% year on year for the month, whilst the overall online population, with home access, grew by 6.3%. Female users accounted for 52%, or 55 million of internet users, with males making up a further 49.8 million users, up 3.3% year on year.
| 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.”
