As we finish the Thanksgiving day feast and begin to clean up, I’m reminded of how thankful I am for the —
Dishwasher.
Yes, that humble machine that makes light work of all our struggles.
But I wonder, how many of our neighbors are so lucky as to have one of these wonder machines?
In 1984, just 13.6% of the poor had a dishwasher. Today? Nearly 300% more have ’em. And much more:
| % Households with: | Poor 1984 | Poor 1994 | Poor 2003 |
Poor 2005 |
All 1971 | All 2005 |
| Washing machine | 58.2 | 71.7 | 67.0 | 68.7 | 71.3 | 84.0 |
| Clothes dryer | 35.6 | 50.2 | 58.5 | 61.2 | 44.5 | 81.2 |
| Dishwasher | 13.6 | 19.6 | 33.9 | 36.7 | 18.8 | 64.0 |
| Refrigerator | 95.8 | 97.9 | 98.2 | 98.5 | 83.3 | 99.3 |
| Freezer | 29.2 | 28.6 | 25.4 | 25.1 | 32.2 | 36.6 |
| Stove | 95.2 | 97.7 | 97.1 | 97.0 | 87.0 | 98.8 |
| Microwave | 12.5 | 60.0 | 88.7 | 91.2 | 1.0 | 96.4 |
| Color TV | 70.3 | 92.5 | 96.8 | 97.4 | 43.3 | 98.9 |
| VCR | 3.4 | 59.7 | 75.4 | 83.6 | 0.0 | 92.2 |
| Personal computer | 2.9 | 7.4 | 36.0 | 42.4 | 0.0 | 67.1 |
| Telephone | 71.0 | 76.7 | 87.3 | 79.8 | 93.0 | 90.6 |
| Air conditioner | 42.5 | 49.6 | 77.7 | 78.8 | 31.8 | 85.7 |
| Cellular Telephone | 34.7 | 48.3 | 0.0 | 71.3 | ||
| One or more cars | 64.1 | 71.8 | 72.8 (2001) | 79.5 |
Clearly life has gotten better. Not just for me over the past few years, but for all American’s over the last 30.