Survey: Americans reclassifying luxury, necessity in recession

— -- A few years back, the list of "gotta-haves" for many Americans included a car, TV, microwave, home air conditioning and dishwasher.

Now, not so much.

A Pew Research Center survey released Thursday finds that the recession has changed Americans' minds about many items that used to seen as necessities.

In a 2006 Pew survey of luxuries and necessities, 68% said a microwave was a necessity; now that's 47%. And 52% say a TV is a necessity today, down from 64% in 2006.

"Societal conditions have changed," says James Burroughs, associate professor of commerce at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville. "In many ways, luxuries are things that are learned in response to a changing environment."

The survey of 1,003 Americans April 2-8 by telephone and cellphone finds that appliances such as a dishwasher or clothes dryer are now considered more discretionary. Just 21% (down from 35%) say a dishwasher is a necessity, and 66% say the same for a dryer (down from 83%). Still, the dryer ranked second on the necessity list in 2006 and 2009, following the car, which topped the list both years (91% in 2006, 88% today).

Pew researchers also asked about behavior changes amid the struggling economy and how much Americans' lives have been affected:

•27% report they or someone in their household had lost a job or been laid off in the past year.

•80% have cut back.

•20% say they're doing more work in and around their homes.

"Regardless of age, gender, education and other social or economic characteristics, the change in attitudes toward these consumer goods has occurred quickly and broadly," the report says.

It also found technology is more indispensable: Cellphones and high-speed Internet access are as necessary or more necessary as they were three years ago. About half (49%) of those surveyed this month say cellphones are a necessity, the same as in 2006. But high-speed Internet picked up 2 percentage points, to 31%.

One factor may be that the lines between work and home are blurring, says Stephen Sweet, associate sociology professor at Ithaca (N.Y.) College. He says many employees are expected to be reachable anytime, work at home when necessary and sometimes bring children to the office.