The provided charts illustrate the shifts in the ownership of three key electrical appliances and the corresponding time dedicated to housework within households of one nation over a century, from 1920 to 2019.
Overall, it is evident that ownership of all appliances surged dramatically over the period, particularly after 1960, while the weekly time spent on housework showed a corresponding sharp decline.
Looking first at appliance ownership, all three started from very low levels in 1920 (under 10% each). Refrigerators consistently led in adoption, rising steadily to surpass 30% by 1940, overtaking the washing machine. Vacuum cleaner ownership remained the lowest until 1980. However, a significant proliferation occurred between 1960 and 2000. By 2019, near-universal ownership was achieved for refrigerators and washing machines (around 98-100%), while vacuum cleaners reached approximately 85%.
Conversely, the time devoted to housework followed an inverse pattern. Initially high at 50 hours per week in 1920, it decreased only slightly to about 48 hours by 1960. A steep decline then ensued, coinciding with the rapid uptake of appliances. Hours plummeted to roughly 20 by 1980 and continued falling to just under 10 hours per week by 2019.