Necessity vs Luxury: Research Shows That The Economy Shapes Our Perspective

Quick question:  Do you think a microwave is a necessity or a luxury?

I ask because the other day NPR ran a story about a Pew Research Center study that asked these types of questions.

According to the findings Americans are paring down on what they consider necessities.  For example, in 2006 68% of people called the microwave a “necessity”.  In 2009 only 47% now feel that way.

Here is a chart showing how some other items fared as well.

chart1

It’s interesting to see that a shaky economy has people viewing less items as necessities.  But it totally makes sense.  When money is a little tight, it’s amazing what you can make do with.

I was curious how the DD household would compare with the survey’s findings, so I quizzed my wife tonight at dinner and here are our results:

Necessity Survey (Item, nationwide Yes%, DD, Mrs. DD)

Is this item a necessity?

  1. Car  – 88% – Yes – Yes
  2. Landline phone  – 68% – Yes – Yes
  3. Clothes Dryer – 66% – Yes – Yes
  4. Home air conditioning  – 54%  – Yes – No
  5. TV set  – 52% – No – No
  6. Home Computer 50% – No – Yes
  7. Cell Phone  – 49% – No – No
  8. Microwave  – 47% – Yes – No
  9. High Speed Internet  – 31% – No – Yes
  10. Cable/Satellite TV – 23% – No – No
  11. Dishwasher – 21% – No – No
  12. Flat Screen TV  – 8% – No – No
  13. iPod – 4% – No – No

The only ones my wife & I really disagreed on were Home AC and the Microwave.  I said yes to both.  I get miserably hot really easy, so I feel I “need” AC.  Upon reflection, I guess I could go without a microwave, but when I first thought about it I instantly said yes.

**My wife said “yes” to Computer & High Speed Internet because she works from home and uses these for her job.  She said if it wasn’t for that, she’d had said “no”**

So what about you? Do you think any of those items are necessities?

Looking forward to your answers.

Until next time,

-DD

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