The table illustrates the proportion of British households that owned eight different types of consumer durables between 1972 and 1983. Overall, there was a consistent upward trend in the ownership of all items throughout the eleven-year period. Televisions and vacuum cleaners were consistently the most popular items, whereas dishwashers and video players were the least common.
By 1972, televisions were already present in 93% of households, rising steadily to reach 98% by 1983. Similarly, vacuum cleaner ownership grew from 87% to 95% over the same timeframe. Refrigerators also saw significant growth, starting at 73% in 1972 and climbing to 94% by 1983. Washing machines followed a similar pattern, increasing from 66% to 80%.
Other items, while starting from lower bases, experienced substantial growth. Telephone ownership, for instance, nearly doubled from 42% in 1972 to 77% in 1983. Central heating also became much more prevalent, rising from 39% to 64%. In contrast, dishwashers remained a luxury item, only appearing in 3% of homes by 1978 and reaching just 5% by 1983. Video players were only recorded in the final year, at 18%.