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Around 40 Percent of Homes in the U.S. Have Only Cellphones: CDC

Two in Five U.S. Households Have Only Cellphones
(Photo : Flickr) Two in Five U.S. Households Have Only Cellphones

Around 41 percent of American households do not have landline connections and use only mobile phones, according to a survey.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used data from the National Health Interview Survey to note the health statuses and access to health care facilities of families living around the country. Nearly 21,512 households were interviewed last year to record the trend in the usage of cellphones and landline phone connections in the last decade, reports Reuters News.

 The agency found many houses of younger adults, economically backward citizens, Hispanics and those who lived in rented apartments only had wireless or mobile phone connections. The total number of homes using only cellphones annually increased by five percent since 2003 and in 2012, the overall rate of cellphone use reduced to three percent.

The survey also revealed three percent of the American households did not have either cellphones or landline connections, 48 percent had both and only nine percent relied only on landline phones in 2013. The data recorded five years ago suggests, 17 percent of the homes used only landlines and over 60 percent of the surveyed households were both mobile and landline phone users.

During the entire study period it was observed that women were less likely to cancel their existing landline connection than men and over 86 percent of seniors were vastly dependant on landline phones. Almost 75 percent of adults between the ages 25 and 29 managed with cellphones. This trend was followed by majority of people between age groups of 18 and 24 and 30 to 34, reports the American Live Wire.

The CDC officials also noticed people owning cellphones were mostly heavy drinkers and smokers or those without insurance coverage and poor access to healthcare system. Many of these individuals were tested for HIV or AIDS at least once in their life time.

Jul 09, 2014 11:10 AM EDT

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