Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) Report on Household Amenities and Access to Services 2004-2019

The data illustrates how technology usage has evolved in recent years, highlighting how some modes of entertainment and communication that were dominant at the turn of the millennium declined in popularity or were supplanted by more recent technological developments.

Mobile phones replacing household landlines

The proportion of households with a fixed line telephone has fallen steadily over the past 16 years – in 2004, 86.9% of households had a fixed line telephone in their home, falling to 59.2% in 2019.  The proportion of households that didn’t have a fixed landline due to an inability to afford one was 5.6% in 2004 and 7.1% in 2019, while the proportion that did not have one due to other reasons increased from 7.5% in 2004 to 33.6% in 2019.

While ownership of fixed line telephones has been falling since 2004, the number of individuals that own a mobile phone has been increasing steadily.  Each year, SILC collects data on mobile phone ownership at an individual level, i.e. for all respondents aged 16 and above.  In 2004, 74.9% of individuals aged 16 and over owned a mobile phone, increasing to 97.1% in 2019.  See table HAS01.

Over three in four households have a computer

In 2004, just over one in every two households (50.5%) possessed a computer in their home.  In 2019, the figure stood at 77.9%.  The proportion of households that couldn’t afford to own a computer decreased from 12.5% in 2004 to 3.4% in 2019.

In 2019, 96.3% of households had a television in their home.  This figure has remained relatively unchanged over the past 16 years. Over four in five households (83.5%) owned a DVD player in 2011, falling to just over three in five (63.2%) in 2019.  The proportion of households with a satellite dish has doubled since 2004, going from 28.6% to 61.1% in 2019.

Household ownership of a CD player peaked in 2010 at 85.3%, by 2019 this had fallen to 56.5%.  Possession of stereo radios follow a similar trend, going from a peak of 83.0% in 2010 to 51.4% in 2019.

Deep fat fryers have decreased in popularity

The presence of deep fat fryers has declined within households, with 46.6% of households possessing one in 2004 decreasing to 28.6% in 2019.

Most households possess a microwave, increasing from 81.7% of households in 2004 to 91.8% in 2019.

Liquidisers are slightly more common than food processors within households.  In 2004, 45.4% of households had a liquidiser, increasing to 51.4% in 2019.  Meanwhile, 39.5% of households had a food processor in 2004, increasing to 46.7% in 2019.

Vacuum cleaners are common to over nine in ten households, increasing from 92.5% in 2004 to 94.3% in 2019.

Ownership of large household appliances mostly unchanged since 2004

In 2019, 98.1% of households had a washing machine in their home.  This figure has seen a slight increase from its 2004 figure of 93.1%.  The percentage of households with a clothes dryer has remained relatively stable over the last 16 years, with a figure of 62.3% in 2004 and 65.3% in 2019.

However, ownership of a dishwasher has steadily increased from 45.6% in 2004 to 65.4% in 2019.

In 2019, 83.9% of households had a fridge with separate freezer section, 40.2% had a fridge (without a freezer compartment), and 34.7% had a deep freezer.  See table HAS02.

Each year, households are asked if their dwelling has various features, such as a garage, alarms as well as a question on car ownership.

Over 9 in 10 households have double or triple glazing

The share of households that have double or triple glazing in their dwelling has increased steadily from 70.5% in 2004 to 94.2% in 2019.

In 2019, 25.0% of households reported having a garage, compared with a high of 34.6% in 2004.  Looking at the differences between urban and rural areas, over one in every two (51.4%) households in rural areas had a garage in 2019, compared with just one in eight (12.7%) households in urban areas.

The proportion of households that have a burglar alarm in their home increased from 27.5% in 2004 to 45.9% in 2019.  Households in urban areas are more likely to have a burglar alarm in their home.  In 2019, just over one in every two (51.2%) of households in urban areas had a burglar alarm, compared to one in three (34.7%) of households in rural areas. However, both of these figures have increased steadily since their respective lows in 2004.

Nine in ten (89.0%) households had a smoke alarm in 2008, increasing to 94.2% in 2019.  Smoke alarms are slightly more common in urban households than rural ones, with 95.1% and 92.2% of respective households having one in 2019.  See table HAS03.

Over four in five households have a car or van

In 2019, 80.6% of households reported having a car or van for private use, increasing from 75.6% in 2004.  This figure has been higher in rural areas than in urban areas for the last 16 years – in 2019, nine in ten (90.3%) of households in rural areas had a car or van, compared with 76.1% of households in urban areas.  See table HAS04.

Each year, SILC also asks households about various problems in their local environment, such as crime, noise and pollution, as well as their ability to access local services.

Problems with crime, violence or vandalism have decreased

The share of households saying they had problems with crime, violence or vandalism in their local area has fallen from a high of 16.1% in 2006 to 8.2% in 2019.   (This figure reflects crime and related problems in the local area from each individual household’s perspective, and is not concerned with whether these problems were reported to authorities or not.)  This figure was higher for households in urban areas, at 10.2% in 2019, compared with 4.0% in rural areas.

In 2019, the proportion of all households reporting problems with noise from the street or from neighbours was 8.3%.  This figure was higher for households in urban areas at 10.7%, compared with 3.2% in rural areas.  Both these figures have seen a fall from their highs in 2006 of 18.8% for urban households and 7.3% for rural households.

In 2019, 6.0% of households said they experienced problems with pollution, grime or other environmental problems caused by traffic or industry in their local area, compared with 9.0% in 2004.  The proportion of households having problems with pollution in their local area was higher in urban than in rural regions, 7.1% and 3.7% respectively in 2019.  See table HAS05.

Between 2011 and 2019, respondents were asked about their self-perceived ease in accessing local services, such as public transport, primary health care services, shop, bank and post office.  Possible answers were ‘With great difficulty’, ‘With some difficulty’, ‘Easily’, ‘Very easily’.

Rural households have greater difficulty accessing services

The proportion of rural households with some or great difficulty accessing public transport increased from 48.0% in 2011 to 57.0% in 2019, whereas the proportion for urban households remained the same in 2011 and 2019, 9.8% and 10.0% respectively.

In 2019, one in ten (10.7%) urban households said they had some or great difficulty accessing primary health care services (such as a General Practitioner (GP), a primary health centre, a casualty department or similar, where first-aid treatment could be received), compared with almost four in ten (37.9%) rural households.

One in twelve (8.4%) of households in rural areas said they had great difficulty accessing a shop that sells groceries in 2019, while a further 19.7% said they had some difficulty, compared with 1.4% and 4.9% of urban households respectively.

Rural households were also more likely to report having some or great difficulty accessing a bank (44.2%) or post office (33.1%) in 2019, compared with urban households at 16.8% and 8.8% respectively.  See table HAS06.

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