Health benefits and barriers to cell phone use in low-income urban U.S. neighborhoods: Indications of technology maintenance

Abstract

Little is known about the everyday health and safety benefits of cell phones for the U.S. poor, despite heightened risks of illness and exposure to crime for this population. Interviews with low-income, urban U.S. residents reveal that cell phones are an asset for psychological reassurance, crime prevention, and critical access to emergency help. At the same time findings reveal that these residents often have broken and disconnected cell phones that require constant upkeep, or technology maintenance. Reliance on second-hand, government, and no-contract phones ease cell phone ownership but also normalize intermittent disconnection leading to dependably instability. These findings demonstrate the extreme value of cell phone access for residents of poor neighborhoods, and at the same time indicate that disparities in cell phone access still persist and may be worsening.