“When you can do it, why can’t I?”: Racial and socioeconomic differences in family technology use and non-use

There is racial diversity as well as economic inequality in the United States (U.S.). To gain a nuanced understanding of how households from different socio economic and racial backgrounds integrate technology into their lives, we conducted a diary study with 22 parents who were Asian Indian (the fastest-growing immigrant population in U.S.) and 18 who were White American (the largest racial group in U.S.) parents from the working and middle classes. The participants logged in-situ instances of using smart phones and speaker use by, with, and around children for 8 weeks, and were interviewed once every four weeks (two times in total). Our findings reveal differences and similarities in parents’ attitudes and practices of using or not using these devices around and with children, in parental restrictions of children’s use of technology, and children’s daily use patterns. The paper concludes with a discussions of the implications of our findings and suggestions for future design improvements in smart phones and speakers.