The line graphs compare the percentage of households that owned three electrical appliances (washing machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners) and the average number of hours spent on housework per week in one country between 1920 and 2019.
Overall, ownership of all three appliances increased throughout the period. Refrigerators and vacuum cleaners became almost universal by the end of the timeframe, whereas washing machine ownership grew more slowly and experienced a slight decline at one stage. In contrast, the amount of time spent on housework decreased significantly.
In 1920, washing machines were the most common appliance, being owned by 40% of households, while the figure for vacuum cleaners stood at 30%. By comparison, no households had a refrigerator at that time. Over the following decades, ownership of all three appliances rose steadily. Refrigerator ownership increased most dramatically, reaching 90% in 1960 before climbing to 100% in 1980. It then remained unchanged for the rest of the period.
A similar trend can be seen in the figures for vacuum cleaners. The proportion of households with this appliance rose from 30% in 1920 to 70% in 1960 and eventually reached full penetration in 2000, where it remained until 2019. In contrast, washing machine ownership increased from 40% to 70% between 1920 and 1960, before falling slightly to 65% in 1980. However, it recovered gradually and finished at approximately 75% in 2019.
The second graph shows a reverse pattern. Households spent around 50 hours per week on housework in 1920, but this figure fell steadily to 20 hours by 1960. After declining further to about 15 hours in 1980, it remained relatively stable before dropping to just 10 hours per week at the end of the period.