Recession changes our definition of 'necessity'

My grandfather, born in 1899 to Belgian parents in Pennsylvania, was often at our home during Christmas gatherings when I was young. He would scowl, as only grandfathers can, and shake his head at the excessive swag under the tree we grandchildren hauled in — even though he contributed to the materialistic overdose year after year.

"When I was a kid," went his annual refrain, dotted with French exclamations, "all I had to play with was a doorknob." Geez, I'm not sure that left me feeling guilty. But it sure made me wonder: How do you play with a doorknob?

What Americans consider a "necessity" changes with the nation's economic prosperity. Amid recession and cutbacks on household budgets, what once were necessities are often relabeled luxuries.

A new Pew Research Center survey finds Americans are narrowing the list of household appliances they say they can't live without since Pew asked Americans the same question in a more prosperous 2006.

"Recession-era re-evaluations" is what Pew calls the new rankings. I hear another word that captures the impact of (less) spending and (more) saving — the "reset."

Pity the poor microwave.

Of 12 household appliances in the survey, as a must-have it dropped the most in the past three years. It was followed by the clothes dryer and — bizarrely, I must say — home air conditioning. (Surely, we Floridians have a different outlook on this "necessity" since the Pew survey was national and was conducted in April, not August.)

Recent tech offerings proved more resilient over the past three years. Both the home computer and cell phone, deemed necessities by half of consumers, remained stable between 2006 and 2009. Devices like high-speed Internet access and the iPod, while called a "necessity" by minorities of those surveyed, actually gained support by consumers since 2006.

Finally, there's the automobile — the ultimate survivor. It's been around for nearly a century, yet it stays at the top of America's list of everyday necessities.

Funny, in looking over the Pew survey of potential necessities, I can't find any mention of a doorknob. Sorry, Grandpa.

Robert Trigaux can be reached at trigaux@sptimes.com.