TV Ownership Finds Its Way Into Political Debate On Living Standards

Back when they were $25,000 and even $10,000 a pop, plasma TVs were a status symbol of the upper class. Now, plummeting prices and Black Friday sales have put $199 42-inch TVs at the forefront of a political debate on income equality. A report in CNNMoney Tuesday, “Are You Poor If You Have a Flat-Screen TV?” cites figures from a “Residential Energy Consumption Survey” taken in 2009 by the Department of Energy, which showed that even before the price of flat-panel TVs tumbled to new lows late last year, many low-income Americans owned multiple TVs along with middle- and upper-class consumers.

According to the report, conservatives, who say consumption is a better indicator of living standards than income, use household TV data to support the claim that the nation’s poor are living better than they have in decades because they're enjoying many of the conveniences affordable to the middle class. Liberals counter that electronics and appliances have become more affordable, but basic necessities such as child care, health care and transportation have not, and those costs have left the poor struggling to make ends meet, the report said.

The DOE survey found that 62 percent of households with annual incomes under $20,000 owned two to four TVs, and roughly a third of the lower income households owned either an LCD or a plasma TV, according to the survey. More than 70 percent of households with $60,000-$79,999 in income owned two to four TVs, and of households with income above $120,000, 68 percent reported owning two to four sets, data showed. Conservative researchers say growing parity of TV ownership is a sign that the consumption gap is narrowing, the report said. A wider dichotomy existed in computer ownership among household income levels, according to the survey, with 52 percent of lower income households without a computer, compared with 3 percent of high-income households that were PC-free.

Conservative researchers quoted in the report said Americans don’t have a true idea of what living in poverty means. The average household defined as “poor” in 2005 had air conditioning, cable TV and a DVD player, according to government statistics cited by Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation. Homes with children typically had a videogame system, too, he said.

Advocates of lower-income consumers quoted in the story said TVs and dishwashers aren’t what’s burdening the poor, who are locked into poverty by the rising cost of expenses including childcare, transportation and medical expenses. “Technology is getting much cheaper, but the cost of basics is really putting pressure on family budgets,” said Melissa Boteach, director of the Poverty to Prosperity program at the Center for American Progress.

A request for more recent data from DOE wasn’t answered by our deadline. Meanwhile, according to a report released in June of this year by DOE, total U.S. energy consumption in homes has remained relatively stable as improvements in energy efficiency in space heating, air conditioning, and major appliances have offset growth in the number and size of housing units and the increased use of electronics at home.