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I had a maid in Thailand who did laundry for us, and her favorite person in the world was a previous employer who found and provided a washing machine. I haven

I had a maid in Thailand who did laundry for us, and her favorite person in the world was a previous employer who found and provided a washing machine. I haven't yet read the book, but I recently heard opposing statistics that washing machines don't necessarily free up much time, but they dramatically increase the amount of laundry done and expected cleanliness of clothing. (Jevons paradox) I suspect the truth is mixed, and that at lower income levels, it probably saves a lot of time, and at higher income levels, "consumption" of clean clothing dominates.

m_mueller 8y ago
Probably yes. In a culture with 8 kids per family on average the time saving must be huge, but once you are at 2 kids per family (e.g. India now btw.!) it becomes more a quality of life thing.
pbhjpbhj 8y ago
I've heard similar reports. Hoovers (vacuum cleaners) mean fitted carpets rather than a rug you take out and shake off, or mopped floors, so time savings get eaten up. But "luxury" levels increase.