The line graphs show how the ownership of three electrical appliances changed from 1920 to 2019. They also show the average number of hours that people spent on housework each week in one country during the same period.
Overall, the percentage of households with electrical appliances increased significantly over the 99-year period. At the same time, the amount of time that people spent on housework decreased dramatically.
In 1920, only 40% of households had a washing machine, 30% had a vacuum cleaner, and almost no homes had a refrigerator. By 1960, refrigerator ownership rose sharply to 90%. Vacuum cleaner ownership also increased steadily to 70%. By 2019, both refrigerators and vacuum cleaners were in 100% of households. In contrast, washing machine ownership saw some minor fluctuations, dropping slightly in 1980 before rising to 75% in 2019.
As appliance ownership grew, the time spent on chores went down. In 1920, a typical household spent 50 hours per week doing housework. This number fell quickly to 20 hours in 1960. By 2019, the time spent on housework reached its lowest point at just over 10 hours per week.