数字鸿沟对老年人就业不平等的影响研究

A Study on the Impact of the Digital Divide on Employment Inequality among the Elderly

积极开发老年人力资源,促进老年人口再就业和继续劳动参与是老龄社会可持续发展的重要举措。然而,随着数字化浪潮的席卷,数字鸿沟似乎成了老年人就业和劳动参与的新桎梏。因此,文章基于技能偏向性技术进步理论、信息效应论和人力资本理论,利用中国老年社会追踪调查(CLASS)数据,深入探究数字鸿沟对老年人就业不平等的影响和作用机制,借以弥合老年数字鸿沟、释放老年人的就业活力。研究发现,数字鸿沟会扩大老年人的就业不平等,包括就业机会不平等、就业层次不平等和就业收入不平等。而不同类型数字鸿沟,包括接入沟、使用沟和获取沟对老年人的就业不平等均有显著影响。与其他群体相比,数字鸿沟对农村老年人和男性老年人就业不平等的影响更为明显。机制分析表明,数字鸿沟可以通过信息获取和就业技能改善两种方式影响老年人就业不平等。以上研究发现表明,数字鸿沟是影响老年人就业不平等的重要因素,弥合老年数字鸿沟、释放老年人的就业活力,需要加快建立数字包容性社会,大力推动乡村数字基础设施建设、缩小数字基础设施建设的城乡差异,并强化老年人的数字技术接入、使用和知识获取的宣传教育,推动数字技术在老年人群中的应用和普及,以助推数字技术成为老年人就业活力释放的催化剂。

Actively developing the human resources of older adults and promoting the re-employment and continued labor force participation of the older population are important measures for the sustainable development of an aging soci⁃ety.However,with the sweeping wave of digitization,the digital divide seems to have become a new shackle on older adult employment and labor force participation.Therefore,based on the theory of skill-biased technological progress,the information effect theory and the human capital theory,the article utilizes the data from the China Learning and Ageing Social Tracking Survey(CLASS)to explore in depth the impact and mechanism of the digital divide on the em⁃ployment inequality of the older adults,so as to bridge the older adult digital divide and unleash the employment vitali⁃ty of the older adults.The study finds that the digital divide will widen the employment inequality of older adults,in⁃cluding unequal employment opportunities,unequal employment levels and unequal employment incomes.And differ⁃ent types of digital divides,including access divides,utilization divides and access divides,have significant effects on employment inequality of older adults.Compared with other groups,the impact of digital divide on the employment in⁃equality of rural older adults and male older adults is more obvious.Mechanism analysis suggests that the digital divide can affect employment inequality among older adults in two ways:through information access and employment skill im⁃provement.The above findings indicate that the digital divide is an important factor affecting employment inequality among older adults,and that bridging the digital divide among older adults and releasing the employment vitality of old⁃er adults require accelerating the establishment of a digitally inclusive society,vigorously promoting the construction of digital infrastructure in rural areas,narrowing the urban-rural gap in the construction of digital infrastructure,and re⁃inforcing publicity and education on access to,use of,and acquisition of knowledge about digital technology among older adults to promote its application and popularization of digital technology among older adults,so as to promote dig⁃ital technology as a catalyst for unleashing the employment vitality of older persons.