The digital divide which normally is associated between those living in urban and rural areas, may have a wider relevance as a new research from UK-based Point Topic reveals that digital divide is also prevalent among the children in UK, 35% of whom still don’t have easy access to internet.

“We think this is much the largest ‘digital divide’ facing policy-makers in Britain at this election. This social gap has appeared not because broadband is unavailable but rather because families have not chosen to buy it, whether for reasons of cost or otherwise. It is far bigger in its effects than the geographical divide,” says Tim Johnson, Chief Analyst at Point Topic.

The research says that an estimated 40,000 families with children live in areas beyond the reach of fixed broadband services. Another 1.4 million live in areas where broadband is available but slow, with reliable speeds below 2 megabits per second (2Mbps). About 6 million families live in areas with reasonably good broadband and two-thirds of them do subscribe to it.

According to the research, 2.7 million families which are home to 4 million children do not have easy access to internet.

The research says that these children will end up having lower earning power as compared to those who have easy internet access.