Changing Household Consumption Patterns

What We Work For Now: Changing Household Consumption Patterns in the 20th Centery"Despite all our concerns with self-fulfillment, most Americans work to earn money, just as their forebears did 100 years ago. The relative costs of necessities have changed, and so has a fair definition of what is necessary. But even with all our economic growth, and even with some items much cheaper than they once were, families still spend about four-fifths of their budgets for core needs, just as their counterparts did a century ago. Perhaps there should be some national introspection about how much we have really gained."

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