Internet in the Livelihood Basket: 56% of Incomes Tied to the Internet

A national survey examined public priorities and the economic consequences of internet shutdowns.

Putting together the four axes of this survey presents a picture beyond the daily use of the Internet: removing filtering has the largest share in the respondents' first priority; The income of 56% of them or the head of their household is somehow connected to the Internet; Half of the income-dependent group experienced a decrease in income in the recent outage, and nearly two-thirds of the respondents use a filter breaker to access foreign social networks.

For what share of people is the Internet a means of earning and what effect do the decisions related to its access have on the economic life of households? The report "Excerpts from the Survey Findings of Iranian People's Views on the State of the Internet and Modern Digital Technologies" by the Majlis Research Center, answers these questions by putting together people's priorities, the amount of use of anti-filters, and the definite job consequences of the Internet. This report shows that during the recent outage of the international Internet, 50.5% of respondents with income dependence on the Internet experienced a decrease in income, and 9.6% reported losing their job or their family head.

Along with these livelihood consequences, the use of 64.7% of the respondents of the filter breaker to access external social networks provides a clearer picture of the needs and behavior of users in front of policy makers; An image in which Internet access is not only a communication requirement, but also an issue related to employment and household income.

This survey was conducted by the Mellat Opinion Center from July 21 to August 4, 1405, through telephone interviews with 1,100 people aged 15 and over across the country. Based on the description of the report, the results were adjusted with statistical weighting methods and the sample size was calculated with a maximum error of 3% and a confidence factor of 95%. The findings show that 96% of the respondents are internet users in some way. Therefore, policy-making in this field is related to the daily experience of a large part of society; However, the amount of use, the type of need and the degree of economic dependence of different groups are not the same.

Fix filtering, above speed and price

In the section on policy priorities, the respondents were asked: "If you were responsible for policy in the Internet, which of these items would be your top priority?" 38.7% of the respondents chose to remove the filtering and it is ranked first. Increasing internet speed by 22.4%, strengthening internal social networks by 17.1% and reducing the price of internet by 15.8% were the next priorities.

The relationship between these priorities and the respondents' economic status is one of the important findings of the report. Among those who all or a large part of their income or the head of their household depends on the Internet, 57.1% considered removing filtering as the main priority. On the contrary, people with low or no income dependence have shown a greater desire to strengthen domestic platforms and reduce Internet tariffs.

Generational differences are also seen in the results. Removing filtering was the first priority of 45.3% of young people, 39.5% of middle-aged people and 33.6% of elderly people. Compared to the other two groups, the elderly have emphasized the internet price reduction more.

56% of income is tied to the Internet

In order to measure the link between the Internet and livelihood, this survey asked the respondents about the extent to which their income or the head of their household depends on the Internet. 38.1 percent said that a small part of this income depends on the Internet; 12.2% reported that a large part of their income depends on it, and 5.7% said that all of their income depends on the Internet.

The total of these three groups reaches 56%. On the other hand, 42.8% said that their income or the head of their family has no dependence on the Internet.

The report also shows that income dependency among private sector workers and freelancers is higher than other occupational groups. The income of urban dwellers, especially the residents of provincial centers, also relies more on the Internet, and with the increase in the level of education, the dependence of a large part of the income on the Internet increases.

These findings show that the scope of the economic effect of the Internet cannot be limited only to businesses that conduct all their activities in cyberspace. The survey question covers low to complete dependence on income and indicates a wider connection between the Internet and economic activities of households.

From reduced income to job loss

The most important economic part of the report is the respondents' experience of the recent international internet outage. This question was asked by 600 people whose income or the head of their family was somehow dependent on the Internet.

In this group, 50.5% reported a decrease in income, 9.6% said that they or their family head lost their jobs, and 1.9% reported being forced to change jobs. On the other hand, 37.4% stated that the internet outage did not change their job status or the head of their household.

With this consideration, the findings indicate a significant livelihood pressure on the studied group. For some of them, the definite result has been limited to a reduction in income, and for another group, it has reached the loss or change of job.

The distribution of these results has not been the same. According to the report, young people reported the highest rate of job loss. Urban dwellers, especially residents of provincial centers, have mentioned job loss more than rural dwellers; While the villagers said more about the stability of the job situation.

From an income point of view, the highest rate of job loss has been observed in the group of households with an average monthly income of less than 20 million Tomans. On the other hand, with the increase in the monthly income of the household, a smaller share of the respondents have reported changing their job status. This finding shows the importance of paying attention to low-income households in examining and managing the definite economic consequences of the Internet.

Filter breaker and access to external networks

In another part of the survey, 64.7% of the respondents stated that they use a filter breaker to use foreign social networks. 31.2% also said that they do not use a filter breaker for this purpose.

This question only measures the use of the filter breaker to access external social networks, so the figure of 64.7% should not be considered equivalent to the use of the filter breaker for all applications. Moreover, the use of this tool is more among young people. 76.8% of young people, 64.3% of middle-aged people and 48.9% of elderly people said that they use a filter breaker to access foreign social networks. With the increase in the level of education, the amount of use has also increased.

There is a connection between this behavior and the respondents' policy preference. Among the users of the filter breaker, 50.1% have considered filtering as the main priority; While this share was 25.1% among those who do not use a filter breaker to access foreign social networks. In the second group, strengthening internal social networks has had the largest share among the options with 29.5%.

These findings can be a basis for simultaneously paying attention to access, service quality, internet cost and sustainability of economic activities. As the report of the Majlis Research Center emphasized in the introduction, managing the Internet in critical situations requires simultaneous consideration of security considerations, people's communication needs, and the social and economic consequences of decisions.

The result of the survey is that the evaluation of Internet policies will not be complete without measuring their effect on household income and job security; Especially for young people and low-income households who reported more job vulnerability in this survey.