Percentage of households with consumer durables: Great Britain, 1972 to 2002
Since the early 1970s, the GHS has recorded a steady increase in the ownership of consumer durables. Ownership of a refrigerator rose from 73 per cent of households in 1972 to 95 per cent in 1985.
Other household amenities that were available only to a minority of households in the early 1970s were also more widespread by 2002. For example, the percentage of households with central heating rose from 37 per cent in 1972 to 93 per cent in 2002.
By the mid-1990s, most homes had access to a freezer, a washing machine, a telephone and a television. The proportion of households with access to more recently introduced items (such as the dishwasher, tumble drier and microwave) continues to rise.
Since their introduction to the survey, entertainment items have become much more widely available. Access to a television has always been highly prevalent (93 per cent of households in 1972, rising to 99 per cent in 2002).
New technology: Great Britain, 2000 to 2002
The proportion of households using satellite, cable or digital television was first measured by the GHS in 1996 when 18 per cent of households received satellite, cable or digital television. This figure rose to 44 per cent in 2002.
Ownership of home computers increased from 13 per cent in 1985 to 34 per cent in 1998. Over the last five years the percentage of households with home computers has increased further, to 54 per cent of all households in 2002. Access to the Internet at home has also increased in recent years, from 33 per cent of households in 2000 to 44 per cent in 2002.
Under half (42 per cent) of all households had a telephone in 1972. In 2000 98 per cent had a phone. Since then, the proportion of households with fixed telephones has remained almost constant. There has however been a significant increase in the availability of mobile phones. The proportion of households owning mobile telephones increased from nearly three fifths (58 per cent) in 2000 to three quarters (75 per cent) of households in 2002.
For more detailed information, please download the Housing and consumer durables PDF on the right-hand side of the page.
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Households