What was life like in the UK in 1982

[Its5656]

Of the back of a 90s thread I saw earlier I was wondering What was life like in the UK in 1982, the year I was born.
I lived in council housing in London. Mum was 17 and dad a 23 year old bricklayer.
I'm not in contact with them so can't ask but I remember it being pretty bleak for the most part but also some good.. fruit and veg markets and stalls in Woolwich, pie & mash shops with my Nan. I also remember seeing punks and football violence. And the storm in 1987.
Just wondering.. What would life have been like from an adults perspective in 1982?

I think you'd like the books "When the Lights Went Out" and "Promised You a Miracle" by Andy Beckett. I did. I was 10 in 1982. I learnt a lot from them.

It was a brilliant time to be 17. God I had a blast, I had freedom, friends a job, no real worries. I remember it being exciting, fun and positive.

I was born in 79 so obviously don't clearly remember 82. I do remember things being much more lax health and safety-wise. My dad smoked in the house and the car. I remember sleeping laid across the back seat of the car on long journeys with no seat-belt. I was given a tiny glass of wine with Sunday dinner from about 4 years old.

I also remember my much older brother going out looking like Ziggy Stardust.

I was 11 living in SE London with parents and younger DB.

A French day trip with the school was either that year or the year before but I’d been to France at 9 on holiday so knew it a little bit. Places like USA seemed exotic and ahead of us, NDNs went there and so did 1 school friend of mine. We went to Ireland that summer on holiday, viewed a country club in outskirts of Dublin which looked very glam and saw Octopussy in the Bray cinema.

There was far more freedom for kids then.

I was an adult with a 2 year old living not far from you. Some parts of the area were pretty grim but I went to university when my daughter was a baby and got a heavily subsidised nursery place as a single parent and a full grant with defendant's allowance. It was brilliant and allowed me to get a good job so I was never reliant on benefits and could eventually buy my own house (although I couldn't afford to buy in London).

It was a left wing council nicknamed The People's Republic of Lewisham but I am eternally grateful to them and so sad my grandchildren don't get the same support.

Just before the City took off and my father started to come home with much more money than before. I remember my parents couldn't believe it.

Mind you they refused to spend it and so went to others houses to watch videos, marvel at their soda stream, portable TV (handle) and flash BMW that had a sticky Garfield.

I was about 8. White dog poo still existed. My parents ripped out a kitchen that is now fashionable again. Kids still got the cane and it was like hangings- we all looked forward to Friday assembly for the “entertainment”. It was the Falklands war and my friend’s dad had to go and was gone for months. Brighton and hove Albion were still good ( before they then got really shit and then became awesome again). There were only 3 channels and BBC2 only showed cricket and politics. There was no national curriculum and teachers basically seemed to just teach what the hell they wanted in whatever style they wanted so one year you’d all be in rows facing the front working from a maths scheme and the next you’d have some hippy teacher who let you teach yourselves 🤣. That basically sums it up.

The main difference is tech. Food wise the menu was healthier in some ways but there was low quality frozen food and early ready meals ( then called TV dinners) but family didn’t eat like that. Supermarket fruit and veg was loose and not pre packed or chemically washed.

If up north there was a lot of industrial unrest, quite a bit down south too. It was Maggie Thatcher’s administration so many a middle class and middle aged parent was in constant disagreement with their kids - assuming they weren’t young fogeys as they called them.

We weren’t all in love with the ‘romance’ of Charles and Diana and - despite the fairytale nature of the wedding - many of us thought it was deeply fake whilst enjoying a good royal spectacle.

I was a student at University in 1982. The rent on my (admittedly grotty and unheated flat on the top floor of a massive old house) was £35 per week. When I left in 1984 a starting salary in London would typically be £7 to £8k per year.

It was a very happy time for me - I loved University. There were no student loans and although I only got minimum grant, my parents gave me £25 per month and I earned another £80 per month waitressing.

Most of my friends at Uni smoked, but I didn't then. East Enders was a new show, Adam & the Ants, the New Romantics like Spandau Ballet. Students didn't have lap tops or TV so would congregate in the TV room in halls to watch The Tube every week and shows like Brideshead Revisited.

We lived on a lot less money and spent a lot less money to be fair. No ready meals, no Deliveroo, no mobile phone contracts, no beauty treatments. People had fewer clothes and shoes. It was fine (if a little cold in the winter).

Oh and I think it was still the era when nobody under 7 got bought a Barbie or Sindy as it was a grown up doll

Thanks for your responses and I will check out that book. I recently watched the TV series of This is England and I thought the photography really pictured how I remember seeing the world back then.
I was lucky that our council house was in a nice part of London so I had Greenwich Park on my doorstep.. I love that part of London but moved out when I had kids.

Interesting, I’m same generation and hardly anyone I knew at Uni smoked as the ad campaign in our teens really frightened us.

Another thing, the music 78-84 was wonderful

It was a brilliant time to be an 18 year old, we had a big indie music scene in my town, so loads of live music and tickets were cheap. Cider 50p a pint, pubs always packed, loads of 'discos' at the town hall, just ace. It all seems so carefree compared to now, no mobile phones or SM. Moved into a grotty flat with friends and had a blast. Rent was cheap, we could afford a fortnight in Greece every year. Fond memories

I was 10 in 1982. My memories are a mix of unemployment, Boys from the Black Stuff, inner city riots, Deeley boppers, rubix snake, Alton Towers and the bubble gum you used to get shaped like a record. And The Human League, obvs.

I think 82 was the year I had about 6 pairs of court shoes in different colours. Coloured tights too. ‘Summer’ jumpers because it wasn’t warm. Tiered skirts, stretch jeans (later called skinny) and pie crust and puritan collar blouses.

I was at sixth form college having a blast. Saw loads of bands, including The Cure, at my college!; wore some frightful outfits - remember wearing red eyeshadow and purple lipstick. Time of freedom, money, friends and frightful fashion. Good times.

Do Sixth Form colleges even have visiting bands anymore? Both my DSs never had any evening social events at theirs.

I wonder how common my parents set up would have been.
A 17 and a 23 year old.. shotgun wedding/social housing/cash in hand building work with a baby. I don't talk to them now but wonder was this more the norm back then. And what would life have been like with that setup, was mental health openly discussed and treated, I had my kids mid 2000s and I was single but there was a lot of supportive Sure start baby groups. I'd have been pretty lonely without them, would that have been available in the 80s?

I moved to London from the North West. Worked in PR and Advertising in Soho. Bloody loved it. Drinks in the pub at lunchtime. Drinks after work followed by a curry in Berwick Street. Maybe a trip to Le Beat Route for a boogie then the all night bus home before a couple of hours Kip then back to work.

Happy days.

I cant remember whether it was 81 or 82 (in 1982 i was nine) but my parents took me and DB to a Bonfire Night display where Jon Pertwee dressed as Worzel Gummidge was lighting the bonfire.

Well the adults got more carried away than the children did As soon as Worzel appeared people broke the corden and began to run. I ran with them And i was the only one who got to see Worzel light the bonfire. My parents and brother both missed him. I ended up in the back of a St Johns ambulance while i was described over the tannoy so my parents could come and get me.

Speaking of health and safety i doubt whether they would let a man dressed in a costume that is partly straw carry a burning torch and light a bonfire now!

I met John Pertwee in my PR role.

What was he like? Ive seen clips of him on old panel shows and he came across as very intelligent

I was 24.
I remember the dark side was strikes and unemployment.

I felt well off though, had a good job and a lively social life. Travelled all over Europe, local bands, great nightlife.
No tech. Hard to see how you could survive without it now but no internet, no mobile phones, no social media. You used a landline and word of mouth.
At work everything was pen and paper.
We ate pretty healthily, no fast food no takeaways, drank a lot though.

Pretty sure the only thing I remember from 1982 is the raising of the Mary Rose and the gigantic yellow rig they used!
Especially the bit when it looked like the whole thing was going to fall apart 😱

@JenniferBooth He was quite pleasant. A bit haughty

Did you end up moving out of London and buying a home elsewhere?