The charts illustrate the changes in the percentage of households equipped with three electrical appliances (washing machine, refrigerator, and vacuum cleaner) and the average number of hours spent doing housework per week in one country from 1920 to 2019.
Overall, ownership of all electrical appliances increased considerably over the period, while the amount of time spent on housework dropped dramatically. Refrigerators showed the most significant growth, becoming almost universal by the end of the period.
In 1920, refrigerators were present in only about 10% of households, compared with roughly 40% and 30% for washing machines and vacuum cleaners respectively. However, refrigerator ownership rose sharply and reached 100% by 1980, maintaining this figure through to 2019. Vacuum cleaner usage also increased steadily, surpassing 90% by 2019. Washing machine ownership fluctuated slightly, climbing to around 70% by 1960, dropping slightly around 1980, but then rising to approximately 75% in 2019.
In contrast, weekly housework hours fell substantially. In 1920, households spent approximately 50 hours per week on housework. This figure declined steadily to 20 hours by 1960, before falling further to only about 10 hours in 2019.