And this is why we need to make History particularly recentish 20th Century History compulsory.
Very, very few people born 1930, 40, 50s stayed on at school past 14 or 15. So no, they didn't get free Uni - they got no Uni, no A levels, no O Levels ( GCSE). This is why the campaign for Comprehensive Education which was only coming in 1970s in the main, was and still is so important. The curtailing of most people's ability to better themselves was criminal. Backed by falsified 'research' proving that there were different types of people with a fixed IQ which could be tested for at 10-11 etc. Shameless politicised "academics" making up the proof to make sure most people couldn't progress. It wasn't until Prof Brian Simon trawled through the 'proof' that it became public that it had been made up.
Equal pay for women wasn't a thing until the1960s +. So eg there was separate scale for women teachers' pay - 3/4 of men's. The NAS ( National Association of SchoolMASTERS) split from the NUT to campaign against equal pay for women.
Discrimination at work against women,Irish, Jews, Catholics, racial minorities was rife. ( Huge amounts of unemployment - most women who had worked in factories during the War were summarily sacked in 1945). No employment protection so summary sackings rife, line ups where employers picked out a few men toward that day on the Docks.
Girls who had much higher marks than boys were forced into Secondary Modern Schools and had to leave at 15 with no qualifications because schools were segregated by sex. Most girls were not allowed to study 'boys' subjects so no engineering, woodwork etc. No cookery for boys.There were only 3 Cambridge Colleges for women v about 30 for men. Many courses refused women or had a quota ( Medicine).
Maternity pay was 11 weeks before the birth and 7 weeks after - yes SEVEN only in eg Teaching in 1960s even, Usually this was irrelevant as you'd be sacked. Until 1944 ish women were sacked if they married hence we call women teachers Miss.
There was no reliable contraception ie no pill. Women lived in a perpetual fear of becoming pregnant and being summarily sacked. No access to ( legal) abortion. Very little ante natal care,
Infectious diseases were rife - TB, diptheria, measles, polio and no/very little preventative medecine. No Health and Safety. If you had an accident at work you were likely to be sacked not compensated.
Housing was grim post War. Huge areas of the Cities were bomb sites, or filled with back to backs or 2 up 2 downs housing families of 6-10 or more. Rented ( eg Rackman) of course not bought. Buying a fantasy for most and all women who were not allowed to have mortgages, credit, loans eg hence the Teachers' Building Society founded to help women.
How I wish I had lived in the Golden Years Fantasy that is now the Boomer Age.