Key learning points

1. During the war, technology changed rapidly, especially in electronics and computing.
2. For ordinary Britons, this led to the adoption of a wide range of household appliances as these became cheaper.
3. Television ownership grew quickly, with 75% of households having a TV by the 1960s, making it a common leisure activity.
4. Other domestic appliances such as fridge-freezers, vacuum cleaners and washing machines all made domestic life easier.
5. The appliances gave women more time to work, but poorer families did not benefit as much as others.

Keywords

• Housewife - a woman whose main job is caring for her family and doing the domestic tasks at home is a housewife

• Domestic - things that are to do with the home are described as domestic

• Appliance - an appliance is a machine in the home that is used to do a job such as cleaning or cooking

Common misconception