The refrigerator as a harbinger of a better life

To get a good sense of a country’s level of development, you need to look at the items people have in their homes, according to economists Rutger Schilpzand and Jeroen Smits from Radboud University. Research on low- and middle-income countries often focuses on income, health or education, but that doesn’t tell you the full story of a country’s situation. ‘That’s why, for the first time, we are mapping out how the material wealth of households is developing,’ Schilpzand explains. The researchers coin this material wealth growth for households the 'domestic transition'. Their research is published today in the Journal of International Development.

Today, people in wealthy countries can scarcely imagine life without a refrigerator, television or washing machine, but prior to 1960 very few households owned these appliances. From that point on, however, things moved quickly: just fifteen years or so later these items could be found in pretty much every kitchen and living room in these countries. This development from  a society in which households own hardly any of these kinds of items to one in which almost every household has them is what the researchers refer to as ‘the domestic transition’. In their paper, they describe what this transition means for emerging countries and what factors contribute to a faster transition.

Decent standard of living

All these appliances that households in wealthy countries own today represent the basic conditions for what could be called a decent standard of living. ‘Virtually every household in the world that is wealthy enough to buy such items actually does so,’ says Smits. ‘And that’s not surprising, as behind all the colourful images we see of markets in developing countries or women washing clothes in a river lies a huge burden of time and energy, which mostly falls on the shoulders of (house)wives.’ ‘Buying a refrigerator or washing machine immediately reduces their workload and creates space for spending their time in more productive ways, agrees Schilpzand. ‘The domestic transition is therefore an important prerequisite for strengthening the position of women worldwide.’ 

Phase and speed of the transition

Wealthy countries completed the domestic transition decades ago, but in many developing countries it is still in progress or may even have only just begun. The researchers wanted to know whether the transition in emerging countries follows a similar pattern to that in Western countries a few decades earlier. This pattern was characterised by a slow start, followed by a rapid sprint towards mass adoption of a particular item, after which a ceiling was reached. To answer this question, they examined amongst others TV and refrigerator ownership in 1,342 different regions within 88 low- and middle-income countries. 

The transition did indeed follow a pattern that barely differs from that seen in Western countries. However, both between and within countries substantial differences in the phase and speed of the transition were observed. Smits: ‘Whereas China and Mexico have already pretty much completed the transition, in the rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa it has barely begun. There, basic needs, such as food, clothes and shelter, have to be met first, before people can even think about buying a refrigerator.’ 

Related factors

The data also reveal that the transition starts earlier and progresses faster in cities. Also regions with more economic development and higher levels of education experience a faster transition . A more favourable ratio of children and elderly people compared to the working-age population appears to be important too.

‘Our analyses have given us a better understanding of the situation of households in developing countries, what is still needed to ensure a reasonable standard of living there and how quickly this could be achieved’, explains Schilpzand.