So when were things good then?

[Wouldcou]

Growing up there was the credit crunch, then austerity, then Covid and now cost of living.

Im only 33, when were things good then? A small patch in the 90’s?

I’ve heard about the joblessness of the 80’s, the 4 day week of the 70’s…

What is it suppose to be then?

I really miss the 90s. Fun times

Maybe for you. Early 00s is when house prices quadrupled in 2 years due to buy to let and Russian money being encouraged into London, turning that city into the world centre of money laundering we all know and hate today. It was also the time of mass immigration and the final destruction of any independence in local government. Transport costs started increasing every year, all while wages did not move one inch. All Blair ever did was paper over the well-established cracks in the British economy with some glitzy wallpaper. Blair’s time was when those of us who were working up with no family support or inheritance were absolutely betrayed. We’re still paying his precious PFI debts.

His time was the last when you saw any intelligent discussion of political, economic or cultural affairs - the last time we had hope - because his time marks the point where intergenerational inequality and the mass impoverishment of Britain really started.
2008 credit crunch did not simply ‘happen’ by accident, the vulnerabilities were very much there: we’d already transitioned to an economy built on debt, and public finances were very much restricted by 2006.

I could point you to several resources, other than simply Google where the stats have been public for years, in support, but “The Spirit Level” came out in 2009, you could start there.

In reply to the op there’s never been a good time for everyone, but the post war years allowed growth and statistically were the best years. The French called them ‘les Trentes Glorieuses”.

I would say the 1990s until around 2013 things were good.

The Berlin Wall came down in 1989 - something that just seemed permanent and it brought about a sense of relief and optimism as we no longer had to live under the threat of nuclear annihilation.

Socially things relaxed, clubs and other venues became less stuffy and exclusive and before such an uptick in migration I would say people rubbed along pretty well. The job market was not too bad and social media was not what it is now.

I guess it all went wrong after the 2008 credit crunch - not immediately - the good times continued for a few years but things have got progressively worse and we are not really back to where we were in terms of wealth.

Personally I lost my "good" job in 2012 and was never able to get back to the money/ status/ enjoyable employment that I had then.

I was just thinking about this the other day. If the credit crunch had not happened where would we be today ? Much better off I think and without the toxic politics that we have now.

Depends who you are. I was born in the mid 70s and it’s been pretty good since then. But we’ve always been lucky enough to be able
to earn more than we spend and our kids are doing well. So life is pretty low stress and good. Live in the West Midlands and sat outside a lovely pub yesterday, guitarist / singer on, lots of people out eating and drinking and a fine atmosphere.

Before the spice girls spilt up, times were good.

It was definitely better and went downhill disproportionately faster after the tories came in.

After Tories came in? or after Labour run out of other peoples money?

Those who think Blair’s time was good are the beneficiaries of property price booms, and there’s not many of them. Sadly I’m now one of very few working class voices who are left on here it seems. You don’t see the critiques or economic arguments that we used to see on here any more. More and more just gave up hope or got fed up of the censorship on here (Blair’s time with his love of spin and political correctness fed into later ‘nudge’ thinking and propaganda, and together with the inequality of wealth, led us into a time some called liberal fascism or liberal totalitarianism) or found themselves having to work too much to say anything…

can you please share what is starting to get better for you and your children? and explain a bit your situation, e.g. are you SME or public sector, retired or in full time employment etc?

Late 1980s
interest rates high so savings grew enabling us to buy our first home (16% interest on mortgage)
Decent pay rises
Quality food affordable
Sensible income tax banding ( Scotland)
Lovely clothes on the high st which were affordable
Individuality encouraged no pressure for boob jobs veneered teeth boob jobs & people looked better for it
Realistic knowledge of environmental change
Great music & quality tv
Wasnt particularly young ( mid 20s) but there was a suggestion if you worked hard you would be rewarded .
Cleaner streets no pot holes
NHS which worked
Lots of manufacturers still UK based .
Wasn’t perfect but much better.

The difference was hope. Optimism. Knowing hard times were temporary. Resilience.

Everything now is geared towards conditioning us to accept less, be less, want less, do less.

It is psychologically draining and abnormal. Chaotic. Relentless. One crisis after another so we can't focus on anything to fix.

Totally agree, you’ve hit the nail on the head.

In the 80's dad was on the dole, I was on the dole, mining communities were destroyed, mass unemployment,threat of nuclear apocalypse...it was grim.
It did improve I think in the later nineties, once everyone had got through the house repossessions.
I'm trying to remember when yuppies became a thing. I guess the moneyed people never had hard times.
But I think now is worse than the 80's when I think of our young people.
I still remember having a feeling of hope and the world being my oyster in the 80's. Now, young people have fuck all and fuck all hope they ever will have. All the country seems to see them fit for is the threat of conscription.

Before we boom & bust cycles with periods of green recovery. That didn’t happen post 08, but low interest rates masked it for some time.

Every time period has had challenges of different kinds, and every generation thinks no-one has ever had it as hard as them. Life is challenging, full stop. You just have to make the best of it and get on with it, as people have always had to do.

every generation thinks no-one has ever had it as hard as them.

That's not true though, I definitely think it’s harder for young people now vs when I was their age. Lots would say similar.

I take it you weren't around for the mid - late 90's then? I think most people were aware that times were good then!

In some ways yes, in other ways no. We all had our own challenges.

A lot of older people also lost all the investments they had built up for retirement in the later 90s too, due to the crash at that time. They'd planned and it got them nowhere.

And we have been paying for it ever since. Working tax credits were a huge giveaway and were a cause of house price inflation, allowing people to offer more because they had bigger budgets.

NHS budgets will never recover from the impact of pfi.

Let's not forget that Blair was only able to do ot because he was handed an economy in great shape. And then spent and spent.

They were feel good years whilst the foundations were wrecked. It was dishonest.

Interesting qhat younsay about the 80s and I acknowledge it was dire. However, I was in London and admin staff were thin on the ground, cleaning/catering staff were hard to find and I knew nobody who was unemployed. Friends could have six interviews lined up and two/three job offers within days. People were sadly not prepared to move to where the work was.

This. Most people are remembering the 90s through to the financial crisis of 2008.

I was replying to the point that every generation thinks they had it the hardest which I disagreed with so your reply doesn’t make any sense.

We are a rich democracy in the UK, so I would say times have always been good, especially since WWII. Famously, the late 50s and 60s were times of great innovation. The 80s were great for lots of us.

More recently, the period from 2010 to 2016 was probably the last generally optimistic time....a bit of a golden period.
But it's very personal to individuals, to be honest. If you're unemployed for a period, even if the economy is generally thriving, then you won't be feeling it.
The reality is that most of us massively underestimate how fortunate we are.

You're not understanding my reply. Different challenges, not harder or easier. I was agreeing with you that some things are indeed harder for this generation that were easier for others, but not all as some things that are easier now were harder back in the day.

I pretty much agree with @Meadowfinch1990-2000s. Lots of opportunities, not a worry about losing my job as there was always other jobs. Things were simple back then.

There was plenty of money to splash about in the Blair years and splash it they did including taking on huge debt through PFI to build hospitals etc and completely bloating the civil service. Whilst the global crash caused austerity imo we should have been in a much better place to weather it if the finances of the country had been better managed. One of the reasons Australia did do well was their robust economy. Meanwhile we had Gordon selling all the country’s gold to the lowest bidder. So things have been bad since then by the continued cock ups by the Tories.

I would say this though. There was much less stuff to buy and do back then, life was simpler. I do think part of the problem these days is that everyone wants everything all the time.