By: Rick Hoening
I recently read the following article about the decline the affluence of America in how it relates to new home contruction.
The long-term affordability drive has also meant a gradual cutback on luxuries of the affluent. The “swimming pool era” appears to have been the 70’s, with 44% of full-title homes built from 1970 to 1974 having this feature. Similar to the trends in average home size, there has been a steady decline in the percentage of homes with swimming pools in more modern homes – only 17% of full-title homes built in the past five years had this luxury. Finally, we demonstrate the downward trend in affluent homes built with so-called servants’ quarters. The previous political system encouraged migrant labour and thus, arguably, “live-in” workers. This was also a more affordable practice then. The start of the trend of a decline in full-title homes built with workers’ quarters is thus probably influenced not only by property affordability matters. It is probably also driven by social political change leading to greater freedom of movement for this category of labour, the cost of the labour itself, as well as the changing features of a modernising world. The net result? Whereas 57% of full-title homes built between 1955 and 1959 had live-in servants’ quarters arguably the height of apartheid and thus restrictions on movements of these workers, only 13% of full-title homes valued, that were built over the last five years, have servants’ quarters. Just 1% of sectional-title homes built in the past five years possess this feature.
The social political change has created an out-sourcing of what formerly was a well know attribute of the affluent household. As more people tend towards this behavior, they also tend to cocoon themselves more from society and the world in general. The world’s affluent were always looked upon as a goal for one to attain and be in the that position someday if only in there dreams. But that dream has less influence if the affluent loose that mystic and long held tradition of having a live in staff and personal assistance. Is this time honored tradition carried down through the ages going into extinction?
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