During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, significantly more grandparents than non-grandparents purchased smartphones (32% vs. 22%) and Smart TVs (24% vs. 11%) than they did in the 12-months prior, according to AARP research.

Ranking the top barriers to adopting new technology, survey respondents identified cost (28%), lack of knowledge (24%), and privacy issues (22%) at the top of the list.

The AARP survey  also noted that a majority of all grandparents feel confident using the Internet (67%), computers (63%), smartphones (62%), and tablets (51%).

More results on the AARP survey of grandparents’ use of technology during COVID-19 are available here.