and neutral tends to be white or white with yellow stripes. There is a voltage between the live and neutral because they are indirectly connected to a power plant.  Each electric socket in your home is connected to the live and the neutral.  The metal pins of a plug make an electrical connection with the socket.  A lead, again with live and neutral wires, connects the plug to your appliance. Each appliance has its own connection between live and neutral so each appliance can be switched separately and has the whole live voltage across it. Adding things in parallel always increases the total current Even though all the appliances in your home are connected across the same voltage, they'll all draw different currents.  An electric oven transfers energy quickly so the current drawn by that will be big.  The TV transfers energy quite slowly so the current drawn by that will be quite small. Activity to visualize how the current drawn from a battery increases when an extra component is added in parallel. All of these currents must add in the power supply since it has to provide them all at the same time.  The more appliances that are connected the greater the current drawn. Why current doesn't 'split' at junctions in parallel circuits It's quite common to say that current splits at junctions in parallel circuits but you need to be very careful with this idea.  It can often lead to the constant current misconception . Animation explaining why