One of every four U.S. homes–24.5%–did not have a landline but did have at least one wireless telephone during the second half of 2009 according to preliminary results of the National Health Interview Survey, July-December, a 1.8% increase over 2009’s first six months and a 4.3% increase over the last six months of 2008. Moreover, one out of every seven U.S. homes–14.9%–received all or almost all calls via wireless telephones even though a landline was installed.
The percentage of ‘wireless-only’ U.S. households has been steadily increasing, according to NHS. The 4.3% year-over-year period increase between H2 2008 and H2 2009 is only one percentage point less than the 4.4% increase observed between the last six months of 2007 and 2008.
Break-outs of the data along demographic lines show that more than two out of every nine adults lived in wireless households during the last six months of 2009. The percentage for the comparable period of 2008 was 2 out of every 11, and 2 out of every 17 for the comparable period in 2007. The percentage of children living in wireless-only households is also growing. The 4.6% increase between the first and second halves of 2009 for this age group is the highest the NHS has recorded for any six-month period.
From July through December of last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics compiled information on telephone status for 21,375 households–comprising 40,619 adults over 18 years of age and more than 14,984 children under age 18–as part of its effort to collect information on the health status of the American population. They’ve been including questions about wireless phone presence and usage in households since 2003. Selected preliminary results of these surveys, which are based on in-person interviews conducted continuously throughout the year, are released every May and December as part of the NHIS Early Release Program.
