Consumer Expenditure Survey: 2008. May 2010 Volume 1. Number 4. Focus on Prices and Spending

摘要

Home computers are playing an increasingly important role in our lives. In a short time, it seems that home computers have gone from an expensive luxury item to a necessity, but how many households actually own computers and who is likely to own a computer. Data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that the percentage of U.S. households owning computers (desk-tops and laptops) has increased steadily over the past decade, reaching 75.6 percent in 2008. This summary provides two sets of data showing averages for all consumer units (CUs) and for those that own at least one computer. The percentage of computer ownership and the average number of computers owned are also classified by age group and by education level for CUs. About 3 of every 4 CUs owned a home computer in 2008, compared with less than half of all CUs in 2000. From 2000 through 2004, there was a large increase in the percentage of CUs that owned a computer, jumping from 48.2 percent in 2000 to 67.5 percent in 2004. After 2004, the computer ownership percentages continued to rise, but did so at a decreasing rate. In coming years, it will be interesting to see whether the 80-percent level is a plateau, the point at which those CUs that want to own a computer already own one.