Necessities Of Life

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Necessities Of Life

Men are more likely to rate having a home computer, high-speed Internet, a microwave and a Sky TV connection as a necessity of life than women.

Research into what we count as the necessities of life also confirms that the technology we regard as necessary tends to be the dominant technology when we were growing up. So, the older you are the more likely you are to think a TV set and a landline are necessities of life than younger people. The younger you are the more a mobile phone, an MP3 player and social networking sites are considered necessities.

The findings are from UMR Research’s latest survey of a nationally representative sample of 750 New Zealanders aged 18 years and over . The survey asked people whether they thought a car and a range of technologies around the home were necessities of life or something they could do with out.

The research also showed that the younger people are the more they can do without things. So, for instance, the top four necessities for those aged 18-29 years were car (74% said this was a necessity), mobile (71%), home computer (63%), high speed Internet (55%) which were all lower than three of the top four necessities for those over 60 - landline telephone (91%), car (88%), TV set (75%) and a microwave (60%).

A mobile phone, home computer and high speed Internet are all more of a necessity for those under 45 than a TV set and about half (49%) of those under 30 consider a landline telephone as something they can do without these days.

Newer technology like MP3 players and social networking sites rated relatively low as necessities, but age plays is a big factor in how they are rated. 18% of those under 30 say social networking sites are a necessity and 21% say MP3 players are one compared with 2% and 3% respectively for those over 60.

Significantly more men (73%) say a home computer is a necessity than women (65%). The gender difference is more marked for high-speed Internet (62% men; 53% women), a microwave (56% men; 42% women) and less so for Sky TV (22% men, 15% women).

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