Aged 5, being able to cross the road on my own to the sweet shop, and buy a number of sweets for 6d. Being able to play out on the street with all the other local children. Having a family doctor, who did home visits for infectious diseases like measles.
Aged 8, being able to go out all day on my bike with my best friend to the woods, with my parents having no idea where we were. We could get a bus to town for 2p, as bus fares were highly subsidised. The council ran the buses, gas, water, etc iirc, so everything was integrated and worked. There wasn’t the feeling that the public were cash cows, to be exploited as far as possible by every commercial organisation and public sector. My mother cooked practically everything from scratch and did a hot dessert, after dinner most days.
Apart from Brownies/Cubs, there were no after school activities nor homework until secondary school - apart from possibly some reading?
There was no pressure at school to achieve, apart from going to university. The attitude to O levels and A levels was, you are going to get what you are going to get - which could be a mix of As, Bs, Cs, etc. Teachers didn’t go on generally about getting As, and A*s didn’t exist.
I had virtually a full grant at university, and after paying my hall fees, could live on £7 a week - including going out for a drink every night at the bar; or a pizza or nightclubbing on a Saturday night. 2:2s were enough to get a graduate entry level job.
You could pay most bills by cheque, and go into the local electricity showroom to pay a bill. All the shops like Saxone, Dolcis, Freeman Hardy and Willis, Chelsea Girl, Dorothy Perkins, C and A, Woolies….No call centres - if you had a problem, you got to speak to a real person, not automated menus!