Oh dear. The wasteful young people argument. How trite.Bit selective.
1 - What % of those elderly actually retired at 65. Not carried on in a part-time role? Most of the men had company pensions in an era where the wages salaries were pi55 poor. My Dad retired eventually at 57. lived by the budget until 65 when his state pension kicked in.
2 - 4-5x the wage mostly on a single income. Massive amount of women became housewives when kids were born with virtually zero state help. Child benefit then or now was not enough even to cover a few days food for the child!
3- They went without every luxury if it meant paying the mortgage. No half decent telly. TV Licence and a radio rentals TV all round. decent hi-fi only if husband already had it before they got together. No other tech. Hand me down furniture or cheap from second handshops.
4 - Going out, eating out...........never! No money for that.
5 - Clothes - rarely and clothes and shoes were much more expensive back then
6 - Food: Whatever was cheap. Steak a treat once a month at best. Liver and onions - yuck. Tongue, heart. cheap tinned sweetcorn. Salad only in the summer and then that was a couple of sliced of cabbage like lettuce, a tomati sliced and a few cucumber slices with a couple of slices of ham or corned beef - yuck!
Knackered in 5 year old cars that would only last until 10 years anyway because they just rusted to bits quick.
And after 15 years of sacrificing any treats? kids were now 15, mortgage was now affordable, bit of free money now with interest rates lower.
Remember it isn't just about house prices. Interest meant they paid way more than we would now for that mortgage. How much would a mortgage on a 150k house be now if interest rates were 10-15%?
I used to think my Dad was boring as f*** never going out at all..........but then I grew up and realised why and good for him and happy retirement at 57 because he earnt that.
And if some tosser from government even suggested that they don't need their 3 bedroom home now their on their own. I would join the protest march. I will defend their "selfishness."
Anyway back to filling out my right to buy form. I'm 50 so gonna go for a 15 year mortgage
Trite but true. The youth of today would be shocked how basic life was for a lot of people, just to pay that mortgage. I'm not arguing that house prices are not too hig, they are and I'm not arguing that its almost impossible to get on the housing ladder these days. I am just saying a comparison of house prices then v now is far too simplistic ignoring how much people actually paid for that mortgage because of the interest rates and the lives they led just to pay that bill!
Bit selective.
1 - What % of those elderly actually retired at 65. Not carried on in a part-time role? Most of the men had company pensions in an era where the wages salaries were pi55 poor. My Dad retired eventually at 57. lived by the budget until 65 when his state pension kicked in.
2 - 4-5x the wage mostly on a single income. Massive amount of women became housewives when kids were born with virtually zero state help. Child benefit then or now was not enough even to cover a few days food for the child!
3- They went without every luxury if it meant paying the mortgage. No half decent telly. TV Licence and a radio rentals TV all round. decent hi-fi only if husband already had it before they got together. No other tech. Hand me down furniture or cheap from second handshops.
4 - Going out, eating out...........never! No money for that.
5 - Clothes - rarely and clothes and shoes were much more expensive back then
6 - Food: Whatever was cheap. Steak a treat once a month at best. Liver and onions - yuck. Tongue, heart. cheap tinned sweetcorn. Salad only in the summer and then that was a couple of sliced of cabbage like lettuce, a tomati sliced and a few cucumber slices with a couple of slices of ham or corned beef - yuck!
Knackered in 5 year old cars that would only last until 10 years anyway because they just rusted to bits quick.
And after 15 years of sacrificing any treats? kids were now 15, mortgage was now affordable, bit of free money now with interest rates lower.
Remember it isn't just about house prices. Interest meant they paid way more than we would now for that mortgage. How much would a mortgage on a 150k house be now if interest rates were 10-15%?
I used to think my Dad was boring as f*** never going out at all..........but then I grew up and realised why and good for him and happy retirement at 57 because he earnt that.
And if some tosser from government even suggested that they don't need their 3 bedroom home now their on their own. I would join the protest march. I will defend their "selfishness."
Anyway back to filling out my right to buy form. I'm 50 so gonna go for a 15 year mortgage
Absolute nonsense. People were spending more on fashion, music, colour tvs, the pub, etc., in the 70s than they had in any previous decade. And that spending has simply moved to other things.
I said more than any previous decade. Is reading that much of a chore that I have respond to something not even remotely linked to what I said?I already agreed with you on the house / rent thing. I was just saying this straight line comparison between house prices and wages ignores the difference in interest rate.
"People" were spending more on fashion? Which people? Not the boring old fart, frumpily dressed mums and run down still in 70s flared suits in the 80s Dads thats for sure. People were not spending more on colour TVs. they rented them. The price of buying a colour TV in the 70s was off the scale and they broke easily! Did you not read my post? My parents went nowhere! They were not an anomaly. Music? The odd album. lol. And I mean the odd album.
My parents bought a house in 1972! A colour TV in 1972 was the equivalent of 2 grand today! That's nearly what their "first home" cost! My parent rented TVs until about 1990. lol. Mostly force of habit but no way they could afford to buy a TV until the mid eighties.
"Even in 1972, the price of a colour TV was £225 (£3,158.93 in 2022 costs), a slight reduction from the late 60s of £304 (£5,610.01)."*
Fish and chip shops were crammed, I agree. but then chips really were cheap as chips and fish was cheapish. Its probably comparable prices today fishwise but chips were cheap. Cooked in lovely 10 day old oil to boot to give it a bit of flavour
You need to stop getting your stats and comparisons from Cosmopolitan or Tattler. Its not a good source of "what norrmal folks did in the 70s"
**
https://electronicworldtv.co.uk/blogs/news/the-cost-of-tvs-over-the-years#:~:text=In comparison, a brand new,£254 (£868).
You accuse me of not reading and then talk about "Dad" popping to the pub every day. Hmmm. And it wasn't "Mum could afford to stay at home" It was not a choice. There was no other option. You are oblivious to how life was back then because you've read too much of "how good people had it" on the net! Yes I will argue in good faith because you present this picture of Dads spenig at will down the pub and Mums "choosing" to stay at home when neither is or was true for most families! There wasn;t less to spend on. In any era there is plenty to spend on. In any era there is tech, or furniture, or any number of other things that you choose or not to spend and back then most families chose to put everything into the mortgage and forego any luxury.
It seems to me you are too upset attacking me and the ‘source’ of my information. I was born in tbe 70s and grew up in the 80s. I know what it was like. You are basing all this on your own father and mother, when plenty of people did not stay in. Plenty of fathers were in the pub every night.
and ironically my Dad got a transfer from the DHSS to work in the Lincoln office which he did for 41 years until they wouldn't let him do his job anymore so he took voluntary redundancy.
