By the Numbers: Americans focus on bare necessities, perhaps hoping to forget about worries and strife
21 percent
Decline from 2006 in the percentage of Americans who say a microwave oven is a necessity, according to the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends survey of 1,003 Americans ages 18 or older. The new survey covers how Americans are looking at common household appliances, electronic equipment, and services during the recession, asking respondents whether they see items as necessities or luxuries.
Several other appliances also saw double-digit declines from 2006 in the percent of respondents describing them as a necessity. Clothes dryers, for example, are considered necessary by 17 percent fewer people; air conditioning by 16 percent fewer; and dishwashers by 14 percent fewer. The shifts have occurred among adults in all income brackets, proof that spartaneity is an equal-opportunity phenomenon.
"These recession-era reevaluations are all the more striking because the public's luxury-versus-necessity perceptual boundaries had been moving in the other direction for the previous decade," wrote Rich Morin and Paul Taylor, of the Pew Research Center.
Americans are also looking to tighten their belts because of the recession. Fifty-seven percent have bought less-expensive brands or shopped more at discount stores (here's hoping they avoid the big-box binge); 21 percent have made plans to plant a vegetable garden; and 20 percent have started doing yard work or home repairs they used to pay for.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter
April 26 2009 07:20 am | External Blogs
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