As a young mum in the early 70s, housework, laundry, shopping and cooking took up far more time than in later years. No washing machine, no dryer, fridge, freezer, microwave. Nappies soaked in a bucket, then either handwashed, or if we had the money, the laundrette.
Shopping, on foot or by bus most days for fresh food. Cooking from scratch, very basic meals, because we had no spare cash, no family nearer than seven hours away to help out. I couldn’t have worked in the early years, no available childcare. My husband’s income picked up, we saved ferociously and bought a new house, in a cheap area, with a 95% mortgage. No carpets, some second hand furniture, and old curtains. We moved ourselves, helped by a friend with a van.
Life did get easier, he earned more, I started earning a bit, and we moved somewhere better, nice school, aspirational families, positive peer group influences. With more education, and good careers, our DC have travelled widely, and established themselves with solid homes before they had our DGC. But I can see things are more difficult for today’s teens and twenties. Opportunities are fewer, but expectations are higher. They have had so much more as children than their parents did, that it’s become the norm.
The most fortunate will have inheritances from all we ‘ever so lucky’ baby boomers, as long as we don’t end up in exorbitantly priced care homes.