ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the acquisition of the family's durable goods inventory. From the standpoint of family members, acquisitions of durable equipment do not occur in isolation from each other but are highly interdependent. In the complex of habits by which each family organizes the behavior of its members, each alteration in its equipment thus has repercussions not only for the household budget but for its pattern of living. The chapter considers qualitatively the kinds of durables present or absent, both individually and as a systematic accumulation over the years of marriage. It explains the size and quality of the inventories, analyses the historical sequences in acquisitions over the families' life spans, describes the pattern of acquisition followed during the year of study, and considers the linkages of changes in the inventory over the year with changes in other areas of economic activity.
