Task 1- Line Graph - Sample Essay

Band 8

The line graphs show changes in the proportion of the population in a specific country that owned three types of domestic electrical appliances and the number of hours spent on housework (meal preparation, laundry, and cleaning) weekly for nearly over a century.

Overall, it is clear that the popularity of these domestic appliances surged, particularly refrigerators and vacuum cleaners, between 1920 and 2019. Also, the total time spent on housework decreased dramatically over the same period.

The most significant change, initially, was in the ownership of refrigerators. Ownership rose from 0% in 1920 to more than 50% by 1940 before levelling off at 100% around 1980. The popularity of vacuum cleaners increased steadily from 1920 until 2000 when every home had one. In contrast, the number of people that owned a washing machine rose gradually from 1920 to 1960 onwards, then had a decline and only came to the same percentage in 2000. While every household owned a refrigerator and a vacuum cleaner, almost 25% of households were still without a washing machine in 2019.

The most significant reduction in the number of hours spent on housework, from 50 to 20, occurred between 1920 and 1960, reflecting the rapid rise in ownership of domestic appliances over the same period. From 1960 onward, there was a significantly smaller but steady reduction in the hours spent on the three housework tasks mentioned.

232 words