Politics & Government
Narrowing The CA Digital Divide With Pandemic Benefits
The Emergency Broadband Benefit program offers a subsidy each month toward broadband service for eligible households.
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the need for universal broadband access. Without reliable high-speed internet, it is difficult for students to attend online classes and for parents to work at home.
Many California households struggle to afford internet services, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color. To help bridge this digital divide, the federal government established the Emergency Broadband Benefit program last May.
The program offers a subsidy of up to $50 per month toward broadband service for eligible households – those earning up to 135% of the federal poverty level (or about $35,000 for a family of four) or who qualify for other federal safety net programs.
Find out what's happening in San Franciscofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act extends the Emergency Broadband Benefit program indefinitely, with a subsidy of $30 per month. However, preliminary data show that the program is not reaching many eligible households. Nationwide, only about one in five eligible households were enrolled as of Oct. 31. This means that 26 million eligible households are not receiving the subsidy.
California’s 24% take-up rate – the percentage of households enrolled in the program out of all eligible households – is slightly higher than other large, diverse states, such as Florida (22%), New York (21%) and Texas (19%). However, only 9 of California’s 58 counties have take-up rates above 50%, and its median county take-up rate is only 27%. Take-up rate varies widely across counties: it is only 8% in Marin, Nevada and Sierra counties, while it is effectively 100% in Imperial County and quite high in Merced (84%) and Kern (77%) counties.
Find out what's happening in San Franciscofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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By:
Joseph Hayes
Joseph Hayes is a research associate at the Public Policy Institute of California, where he studies population change, educational policy and criminal justice issues.
Darriya Starr
Darriya Starr is a research associate at the PPIC Higher Education Center and also studies K–12 education policy.
Niu Gao, Special to CalMatters
Niu Gao is a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, specializing in K–12 education.
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