Did you not read what I just wrote? Section 8 housing requires these appliances. But you have to be below a certain income level to quality for Section 8 housing. It would be very reasonable to assume that once your income is above that required for Section 8 housing ($36,000 for family of 4), then if your appliance broke, it might be difficult to replace it because you don't have several thousand dollars lying around. If you've never tried to raise a family of 4 on ~$37,000, let me assure you that you will likely run into that situation sometimes.

But no, other than my personal experience, I have no data to support my claim. Just as you have none to support your counter-claim.