Helping Others, But Not Better Connected? Internet Access in Midlife and Later Life

Introduction. Helping professions are often assumed to provide greater exposure to workplace technology and fewer barriers to reliable internet access because many such roles involve routine use of computers, electronic records, and online platforms. Yet digital inequality research suggests that internet access is shaped not only by adoption but also by context, autonomy, and the continuity of use across settings. This study examined whether adults in helping professions were more likely to have broader internet access contexts in midlife and later life. Methodology. Data were drawn from the 2023-2025 Current Population Survey (CPS) Internet Use Supplement, a nationally representative federal household survey in the U.S., and focused on adults aged 50 and older (N = 14,507). Internet access was classified into three categories: access limited to home, access across home and outside settings, and access limited to outside settings. Helping profession status was recoded from CPS occupation codes using occupational groupings informed by O*NET, a U.S. occupational information system, including healthcare, education, community and social services, and related helping roles. Results. Survey-weighted multinomial logistic regression models were estimated, adjusting for age, sex, education, and race/ethnicity, with outside-only access as the reference group. Contrary to expectation, helping profession status was not significantly associated with either access limited to home (RRR = 0.88, 95% CI [0.69, 1.12], p = .302) or access across home and outside settings (RRR = 0.93, 95% CI [0.75, 1.14], p = .474). In contrast, educational attainment was more strongly associated with access patterns. Conclusion. These findings suggest that occupational identity alone may be a weak indicator of digital continuity in midlife and later life. Technology-dependent services should assess actual access conditions rather than infer digital readiness from the profession.