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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder if it was as bad as people say in the 70s?

456 replies

juicee2 · 03/04/2018 18:55

I am quite curious about it.

What caused the poverty? I thought the 80s were a poor decade - am I wrong?

OP posts:
Gwenhwyfar · 03/04/2018 18:56

I think a lot of people probably liked the 3 day week even if they didn't have enough money.

newtlover · 03/04/2018 19:03

the food was definitely awful
I don't know about poverty, we were just an ordinary wc family, we felt quite comfortable, the standard of what was normal re consumer goods/holidays etc was different then eg no one I knew had holidays abroad, so I didn't feel hard done by for not having them either.

Belindabauer · 03/04/2018 19:07

I was a child in the 70s.
I remember lots of power cuts. Bread and sugar being rationed and my grandma cooked everything from scratch so the sugar rationing would have had a real impact.
We were poor so I didn't know any different otherwise, we didn't have a telephone for example.
I remember warm summers and 'proper' seasons.
We played out a lot so I probably didn't notice a lot of the hardship, if that makes sense.

5plusMeAndHim · 03/04/2018 19:07

What makes you think the 70s were awful?

EastMidsMummy · 03/04/2018 19:10

Average UK household incomes have risen decade by decade (until very recently). The 70s were poorer than the 80s, but not as poor as the 60s.

CharltonLido73 · 03/04/2018 19:11

My teenage years were in the 70s and they were great! No worries and plenty of hot summers spent at the lido (hence the username).

Maybe life was more stressful for adults (strikes, power cuts, etc) - but as kids we just got on with things without worrying.

newtlover · 03/04/2018 19:11

I quite liked the power cuts

CharltonLido73 · 03/04/2018 19:13

"I quite liked the power cuts."

Yes, homework by candlelight. We just took it in our stride.

Buster72 · 03/04/2018 19:14

Worse? We had chopper bicycles !!!

HeadingForSunshine · 03/04/2018 19:14

Bread snd sugar weren't rstioned in the 70s.

The 70s were brilliant. Biba, glam rock, sex discrimination act, expansion of education with polytechnics, the pill, legalised abortion. Allowed sweets at school, Freddie Laker and the start of travel for the people. Foreign food becoming popular.

Samcro · 03/04/2018 19:14

Powercuts were ok if you were in the pub, candles made the spotty guy look better

Costacoffeeplease · 03/04/2018 19:15

The 80s were a good decade for us, interest rates rocketed just after we moved house, but property was relatively cheap, (compared to now) and things like microwaves and dishwashers were available and affordable

The 70s were difficult because of lots of strikes and rationing of bread - I remember my mum making her own - and the power cuts and the 3 day week. But it was fine, and we survived

NymanPerkins · 03/04/2018 19:15

I learned to play cards during the power cuts, no one I knew had any more than we did as a family, we played out all evening and weekend, we didn’t have a phone but the phone box was outside on the green. Sunday’s were bloody boring though.

acornsandnuts · 03/04/2018 19:15

We were working class and didn’t have a lot but we had a lovely childhood. I suppose our expections weren’t what they are today.

One old car, no holidays abroad, hand me down clothes were standard and food was very basic. We rarely ate out and I don’t think there was a takeaway anywhere near us.

We had a colour tv and automatic washing machine, played loads of board games and played out a lot.

Plus most of my friends had mums that stayed at home rather than work so compared to today’s two income families money was very tight.

daysofpearlyspencer · 03/04/2018 19:15

The 1970's were fun, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, power cuts (which was a joy if you were in the hairdressers at the time), OTT fashion, no phones, no computers. We all watched the same thing on telly at the same time, disco, prog rock, northern soul then punk in 76. Food was shit apart from Angel Delightn (Butterscotch) and Vesta Curry, oh and there was a shortage of loo rolls too.

Belindabauer · 03/04/2018 19:15

I do remember there being a serious water shortage, stand pipes were installed and we had to go and collect water from the end of the street, no water in the house. I imagine it was very hard for families, I found it exciting if I'm honest. Long summer days playing out, we lived near fields too and everyone played out.

whiteroseredrose · 03/04/2018 19:15

I grew up in the 1970s and I don't recognise that poverty was any worse. People had a lot less stuff and didn't expect foreign holidays or holidays at all in some cases.

It was normal to bath once or twice a week using the immersion. We had a gas fire and electric heaters not central heating. People used launderettes to wash or dry clothes as lots didn't have washing machines. Lots of use of public transport because we didn't have a car until the late 1970s. Rarely used the phone because it was expensive.

Lots of things that are thought of as essential now were luxuries then and we did without.

But we didn't actually feel poor because everyone was the same.

Costacoffeeplease · 03/04/2018 19:16

Bread was definitely scarce, there was panic buying!

acornsandnuts · 03/04/2018 19:16

Sunday’s were bloody boring though I remember Sunday’s being about the radio and visiting family and being allowed fizzy pop.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 03/04/2018 19:17

I was a 70’s child, working class, poor but loved, bloody loved my childhood.

RonniePasas · 03/04/2018 19:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

YouTheCat · 03/04/2018 19:17

I think it's worse now. I loved the 70s. I had a wonderful feral childhood. I'm sure my parents had plenty of worries but at least, even on one lowish wage and my mam's part time wage, they could afford to buy a house.

There's kids going hungry now and that's just not right. People struggle to afford rent, heating etc. We had the basics in the 70s.

Mydoghatesthebath · 03/04/2018 19:19

I was 10 in 1974, it was truly wonderful as a kid. We played our all day on our chopper bikes and just came home for meals.

I never remember wet or cold summers, I don’t remember any kids being badly behaved st school, you would t date as you were smacked, teachers did loads of after school activities with no health and safety Hmm

For me as s child it was wonderful. Didn’t experience it as an adult so can’t say.

bushtailadventures · 03/04/2018 19:19

I was a child in the '70's, and it mostly passed me by. I remember going camping for holidays, and my mum being excited by the freezer shop(Bejams?) opening, but beyond that...We were lucky I guess that we were fairly average in terms of money, not poor, not rich, just in the middle.

I sometimes watch those nostalgia shows and they show film of people shopping with candles on the trolleys and things, I have no memory of power cuts, but I suppose I would have been in bed when they were really noticable.

GreenItWas · 03/04/2018 19:20

I remember power cuts but not in a bad way. We were WC but I don't remember going without anything but we had far less than people have today anyway, if that makes sense? The house was freezing anyway. The food was all cooked from scratch etc. People supported each other a lot more and all the neighbours knew each other/would take in each others washing if it came on to rain etc. I don't even know my NDN now and don't particularly want to either, sadly. Life was much more relaxed. There was less fear and there was a lot of hope for the future. Life sucks now by comparison.