Many younger boomers have used computers through much of their adult lives, and we estimate that about 85% of 55- to 64-year-olds will be internet users this year. And yet, the internet does not fill as much space in their lives as it does for younger generations.
In a Pew Research Center poll from January 2018, 39% of 18- to 29-year-olds and 36% of 30- to 49-year-olds said they use the internet “almost constantly.” In the 50-to-64 age bracket, less than a quarter (17%) said the same.
Then there's the smartphone factor. To millennials, digital life without smartphones is almost unthinkable. A majority of younger boomers have a smartphone, but they are not as attached to it as younger people are, partly because they perform fewer functions on it. It doesn’t help matters that more and more younger boomers are becoming empty nesters. Without kids around, they lack the in-house tech support that one's offspring can provide.