Children in the poorest households are two-and-a-half times more likely than wealthier groups to be without an internet connection, new research has found.

The study from the Government Family Spending Survey, conducted by the e-Learning Foundation, has estimated that there are three million children in the UK that live in households without internet access.

Around one million do not have a computer, while two million lack internet access.

Commenting on the survey findings, chief executive of the e-Learning Foundation Valerie Thompson said: "Without the use of a computer and the ability to go online at home the attainment gap that characterises children from low-income families is simply going to get worse."

She added that not having internet access resulted in "tangible disadvantages" such as being unable to communicate with other pupils online and research homework.

Interestingly, separate research from the European Commission has shown that households with children are a fifth more likely to have an internet connection.

Around eight in ten young people were regularly using social media from home.

Earlier in the year, a report by the Joseph Rowntree foundation used the internet as a poverty measure.

Computer and internet access at home was included in the minimum income standard because it allows people "to have the opportunities and choices necessary in order to participate in society".

Categories: Broadband, Free Broadband

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