Trends and Patterns in Levels of Living of Farm Families in the United States

Excerpts from the report: Trends in the ownership and use of selected facilities and equipment indicate that farm-operator families in the United States in recent years have rapidly improved their levels of living. In 1956, almost all farm families had electricity and mechanical refrigeration in their homes, and three-fourths of them owned automobiles. Close to two-thirds lived in houses equipped with running water, and half of the families had telephones and television sets in 1956. Between 1-1/2 and 2 million television sets were acquired by farm families during the 6 years between 1950 and 1956. By 1956 two-fifths of the farm homes of the nation were equipped with home freezers. The Nation as a whole has a continuing interest in the levels of living of farm people, and in the changes occurring in those levels. The study here reported had two major objectives: (1) To bring up to date the information on trends and regional variation in farmers’ ownership and utilization of certain level-of-living items, and (2) to show the association of such factors as tenure, age, and education of farm operators and farm family income to levels of living.