ABSTRACT
The post-war period from the late 1940s up to the 1990s has been described as ‘the short dream of eternal prosperity’. In foe 1950s Finland was one of the most predominantly agrarian countries in Europe: 46 % of the economically active population was engaged in agriculture and forestry. The data consisted of original material drawn from a ‘Consumption Investigation’ on 1955 and a Household Survey covering two years, 1966 and 1971. Socio-economic classifications in household surveys are based on data relating to economic activity, occupation, industrial status and education. Household consumption is defined, for survey purposes, as the consumption of goods and services necessary to meet the household’s needs. The dissemination of modern consumer appliances was connected not only with the social class of the head of the household, but also with the age of the head of the household.
