It’s even become mainstream in places like educational establishments. Most schools have mandatory computer courses and requirements for students. It’s likely your employees are able to provide their children the very tool required by schools and necessary to provide a firm foundation for their educational future. According to US Census figures, in 1997 nearly half of all households with children between the ages of 6 and 17 had computers. Just three years later, the number had increased to nearly 67%. And it’s been four years since the last round of census figures so you can imagine a substantial increase.

Do your employees live in rural communities? Maybe you’re concerned about the reports of the lag of broadband access to homes in rural communities. Cable access and DSL are excellent near every major city, so it’s only a concern for rural outlying areas without the benefit of large business centers nearby. It’s important to remember that broadband access isn’t the only kind of access. Do they have a TV and a phone line? They may use web-based television or another equivalent service. And as long as they have a phone line, they can dial up to the internet via modem. Statistics show that as of 2001, rural internet usage was only 1% behind the national average. Good online services should be optimized for the lowest possible dial up connection of the home user, so even a low-end analog link is a feasible and effective alternative. More than 50% of our client’s employees enroll from someplace other than work.

Even if your employees aren’t connected at home there exists a variety of more obscure places to find internet access, including kiosks, coffee shops, copy centers, and even most public libraries. Online enrollment only takes about 15 minutes for a totally novice, first-time user.

And this isn’t a recent thing. According to the US Census Bureau, in 1997 more than one third of all households in the US had computers. In 2000 the US Census Bureau report indicated that half of all households in the US had computers. Eighty-eight percent of households with a total family income of $75,000 or better had computers. Lest you think computer ownership and internet usage is limited to more educated and well-compensated individuals, there has been a steady increase of 25% a year in internet use by families with a total income of less than $15,000. Is it possible that your employees fall within these statistics?

To offer a final startling statistic, in February 2002 the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (part of the US Department of Commerce) reported that internet usage was increasing at a pace of two million new users per month. That’s just about the population of Philadelphia! Every month!

These numbers prove out the simple fact that your employees have access to the internet. The ones that don’t are so impossibly removed from business centers that you don’t employ them anyways. Work is just a single establishment, and not even the one where they spend most of their time. In the unlikely event your employees aren’t yet able to access the internet from home, numerous alternatives exist within their communities.

The information age has arrived. Even if it hasn’t reached your company just yet, the good news is that as far as enrolling for online benefits is concerned, it doesn’t need to.