1957: The JOY of BUDGETING | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

Panorama’s Christopher Chataway took a look at the widely varying incomes of its viewers, inviting some of them to share breakdowns of their household budgets. People from three different income groups talked about their household bills, how they spent their money and what items took priority when parting with their hard earned cash.
Clip taken from Panorama, originally broadcast on BBC One, Monday 9 December, 1957.
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[@martincooper5567]

The very first couple are my parents. the children must be me! I had heard about this but had never seen it before 😂

[@lindal3966]

How amazing - I would love to have had early footage of my family and myself like this!

[@annglaister]

Oh my 😮that’s amazing you must be so proud ❤

[@w.dossett3332]

Martin, what an amazing treasure for you to have

[@pennybunny]

Amazing this must be fantastic to watch but also sad if you're parents are no longer here 😢

[@juliejr]

How wonderful ❤️

[@RosemaryBrocklehurst]

The family of four children (they actually lived in Finchley are my family (Brocklehurst) and Dad was a butcher at Semple's Butchers in Finchley High Street. Mummy, called Jean, was aged just 30 in the film and died at 90 in Sydney, Australia in 2017. I was the eldest child- Rosemary. Its so strange to hear my parents speaking out of history. MacMillan was in power. Churchill was still alive. Mum, (Mummy) always talked in what was called received English or the Queen's English, but her voice here seems a little contrived for the cameras than I remember her true voice in daily life. She is smoking. Something she gave up in the late 60s. Dad always smoked a lot. Untipped woodbines then senior service and then cheaper tipped cigarettes. Think about that change! Mum looks stunning - four children before the age of 30. She went on to have another when we moved to Ainsdale, Lancashire in 1960. She was also a farmer's daughter as my grandfather had a farm at Shaw Green, Rushden Herts, until 1959 as well as a butcher's shop. Dad (Brock or Bill) was working class son of a steelworker and brother to miners, and seems to have erased his Chesterfield brogue early. He won a scholarship to Grammar School in Chesterfield, but was expelled for being a bit of a rebel and it was to do with a sadistic maths teacher. I remember Dad had a deeper voice later on and there were certain words he pronounced with a regional Derbyshire accent. Mum always said he was a good provider. As to budgeting - we always seemed hard up and Mum was worried about how to manage. She baked everything. Cooked from scratch. Shopped and scrimped and saved. She worked very hard as a housewife. But the house at 21 Abingdon Road, NW3, was paid for by mum's parents. It was at the back of a fire station where the BBC programme No Hiding Place (I think) was filmed. Whether Dad paid money back to his father in law my grandfather for the deposit for the small house, I don't know. But my maternal grandparents, Edna May Semple and John Semple used to help out with presents, and extras as well as lots of meat. We did not have holidays. A day in Southend perhaps and visiting my grandparents in Hertfordshire, and later when they moved, to Welwyn Garden City when my beloved grandmother Edna became ill with angina. We had no phone and used our neighbours telephone for emergencies. We had no fridge and mum had a larder covered in fly netting, and a small kitchen table with a formica cover and aliminum pots on the stove where she baked pies, and boiled cabbage and steamed traditional suet puddings. She made Parkin cake and toffee apples on bonfire night. The tiny kitchen opened out to a small garden with a shed and horse chestnut tree. A rag and bone man came round regularly. Milk was delivered. Dad has a grey butcher's van. Mum had a mangle for squeezing out water from clothes washed in a tub. Mum sewed, knitted cleaned, cooked plain food, roasts, puddings, pies and overcooked vegetables. She eventually went out to clean other people's houses twice a week or more to pay for extras which was amazing. I don't think she liked doing this very much, but did for the sake of the children I am pictured as the eldest sitting around the table with fair hair aged 8 playing draughts with my brother David , two years younger, who is on the table. Jane at 3 and and Susan at 5 are the two little girls sitting at the table. Dad studied for Butchers exams and won the silver medal for his knowledge of animal husbandry, diseases of farm animals and the butcher's trade in the Meat Marketing Board exams that year. He tested his knowledge on me. I remember he was disappointed not to get gold. He died in 1982 near Maidstone, Kent and his ashes were placed at Vintners Park Crematorium. I remember Chris Chataway (the former runner) coming to the house, He was a hero of Dad's because of his sporting achievements in athletics. Dad had been a Sgt PTE Instructor in the RAF before civvy street and watched Roger Bannister run the 4 minute mile record in Oxford a few years earlier. Chataway had been a team mate of Bannisters.

[@roseyriver3921]

Thanks for sharing that, what a snapshot of times gone by. I was born in Cornwall in 1958, one of 6 children at home. We hardly had any money but us kids didn't know that. We had the most glorious childhood.

[@M_SC]

How interesting

[@annawilliams7650]

So interesting! Your mum is so pretty and well spoken here. I can see why she preferred to live in a nice location and make her food budget stretch.

[@rachelboulton574]

❤

[@manichairdo9265]

Fabulous story. Thank you so, so much for sharing your wonderful family history. My grandad was a butcher, so my family never went short of beef, and we bought fresh fish from the nearby harbour. In a rural area, we had the freshest of fruit and veg and chicken. I picked raspberries for Baxter's jam and went potato picking for my own special income during school holidays. We walked or cycled everywhere. My dad was a painter and decorator, and for years he'd to work even on Christmas day. The new year was his only day off. He worked at night for extra money, ensuring we lacked nothing. Idyllic life for sure. I hope you write everything you can remember for the oncoming generations in your family. My young great grandchildren are amazed when I tell them of my great grandparents, and what they said and did - born in 1880's.

[@elainekelleher6508]

I'm a '57 child and it seems to me that back then people thrived on simplicity, humbleness and common sense. Traits that are sadly lacking in today's messed up world.😢

[@AnnaSzabo]

100%

[@mefinlay1780]

I am 62 and never had a credit card .. only spend what you have

[@oioisweetheart3500]

Now we have a pandemic of narcissistic people, unhappy to be able to afford a life of luxury. Scrolling down their phone screen and no wanting to get a job.

[@MeridaEllaSinnottDBurtram]

Yes, the post war era. I'm an '85 baby, Ive spent decades in shock at how the faux middle class spend and attack others for not living above and beyond their means. Not a few $/£ 1000 behind with rent/price gouging. No, spending 2x -3x what they have for income. What made me "trashy and poor" 6 months ago is now de rigour. Humans...

[@wendysimpson6395]

I'm a 57 baby too and find that those qualities you mention in a abundance. Sadly more focus is on 'the other' and divisive political narcissistic grifters.

[@BeatUpRecordsCDs]

No matter what income group these people fall in they all dress and talk impeccably.

[@Uruz2012]

They didn't visit people who weren't stereotypically "well spoken" back in the day. Btw, they're all white too.

[@JoshuaMSP1995]

@@Uruz2012 99% of the country was white then.

[@nonnobis2232]

​@@Uruz2012yes white like 98% of the UK population in 1957

[@mingmingyip19]

​@Uruz2012 of course it was England, not much immigration back then unlike now.

[@yorkshirehousewife784]

@@mingmingyip19there was immigration. There were the re-settled Europeans, there was also the Windrush. But.. All immigrants were expected to fit in to our culture or else. Unlike now where we have to pussyfoot around other’s sensibilities and religious choices.

[@Knappa22]

I love how earnest and sensible they are. Modest hardworking people.

[@isabelserrano6018]

Discipline was the key here in all these settings, women had pride in the way they looked after their families. Saving every penny they could.

[@jaijai5250]

Do you really think people like that don’t exist today. Some women still do all the things these women did.

[@Knappa22]

@@jaijai5250 where did I say that people like that don’t exist today? 🤷🏻‍♂

[@ivanahavitoff7308]

I keep a good table you know! What a lovely woman.

[@roseyriver3921]

I love that saying!

[@mandycaldwell3749]

I agree I loved her. She reminded me of my nan .she said I have cabbages growing in the back garden now bless her .

[@gillyj64]

Yes indeed! What a lovely, jolly lady!! Enjoyed a bit of DIY and had pride in her housekeeping & cooking!!

[@WaynesPokeWorld]

@@ivanahavitoff7308 I would have loved to have eaten dinner at her table.

[@jacquelineclarke264]

​@roseyriver3921 me too, and I've never heard ut before. Lovely.

[@francestsoukalidis8401]

Although the 'joy' may have been ironic, it seemed to me that the ladies ( men marginally consulted) took satisfaction, if not pride, in managing their houses. ' Keeping a good table' was proof of a housewife's managerial and culinary skills. The standing of a housewife has lost that level of respect perhaps.

[@Jo-hello]

I agree, the standing of a house wife has lost a great deal of respect in today’s society. I believe that is a shame. It is a role of great worth snd should hold the respect and dignity it deserves.

[@katienorthenmore1892]

Absolutely. I take great pride in what I do. & if you don't work . People think you are lazy. My nan did everything in the house. My grandad would give her wages .

[@driftmetal1075]

How did we become so scruffy! These people look immaculate, you wouldn’t see them at the local store in their pjs! Sometimes progress doesn’t seem like progress. I bet they look after everything they own so well.

[@miamitten1123]

I blames the late 60’s and 70’s hippy _”I dress for comfort and free love maaan”_ Then trainers 👟 being more comfortable than shoes in the late 90’s.

[@VOLightPortal]

Hood and lad culture, drgs and gangs. Mass media influence.

[@joparkinson7978]

I thought that too! Everyone looks so smart and clean and tidy. It’s just lovely 😊

[@purplevamp666]

Exactly. They looked after their possessions because they cost a lot of money and because they were brought up in a time when things were scare (because of the war). Nowadays, everything is cheap in comparison, and people think "if it breaks, I can just buy a new one," or they just want the latest version of something.

[@raymondmiller9798]

Going on TV in those days was second only to meeting the Queen.

[@zulfiqarali9808]

What an honourable middle class generation it was Responsible compassionate and honest

[@heathermcdougall8023]

They did find a "lower" middle class family too. Even the working class was decent then, and after the war, there were a lot of "aspiring" working class, who actually bought a modest home, and really went without to do so.

[@RosemaryBrocklehurst]

If you only knew. Behind the facade.

[@jaijai5250]

@@RosemaryBrocklehurstpeople love to romanticise the past. It’s quite a silly thing to do. Do they really believe that all today’s vices weren’t prevalent in the past.

[@user-ye2ge4zo5lhennypenny]

They had respect too for one another! I was born in 1957

[@theirishcailin333]

It also depends on the way children are brought up now! I'm bringing up my children to know respect, say please and thank you, be courteous etc. My children are complimented on a regular basis. My 6 year old holds open doors, steps aside etc and it's lovely when people smile and thank him 😊

[@ashotofmercury]

​@@theirishcailin333 sounds like you are doing a great job! 🙏🏻☺️

[@jaijai5250]

@@theirishcailin333it’s multifaceted. Parents aren’t allowed to discipline their children today, let alone teachers, police or neighbours. I left school in 1980, and teachers were still allowed to cane children. Children have a lot more power, and rights today. Children should be loved and cared for, and disciplined without brutality. Most of the people in this documentary would’ve experienced harsh physical punishment. Men were also permitted to beat their wives “by rule of thumb”. People need to stop romanticising the past, whilst developing objectivity.

[@kid--presentable]

​@@theirishcailin333I do the same with my kids but I sometimes feel good manners and ethics is a negative in this modern world , taken as a weakness..

[@jamiec5565]

I love the "back then we only had to put £25 down for the house".

[@DerekDogsforSentience]

And just outside of London! Can you imagine how much that house is worth today!

[@Jane-rc2rk]

But that was in 1937 … almost 100 years ago

[@Muncylee]

​@@Jane-rc2rk 1957

[@Muncylee]

What's more stunning is that housing costs we're only 20 percent of the budget.

[@kaz1015]

@@Jane-rc2rk Good point but what struck me was rent being one-fifth of the weekly take-home pay. Why does that now have to be between 30-to-50 percent or more of the weekly income?

[@bajoobiecuzican]

I wish we could go back in time, knowing what we know today. Excellent documentary ❤

[@mgbtvshowsfilms]

I keep a good table, great line. Everyone just seems so much more human, than today.

[@pamelamckenzie2685]

There was more respect then and we lived a simple life I was born in 1957 children was not killing each other we were not overweight we were fitter children we had treats not eat sweets every day fast foods home cooking simple foods and cooked meals at schools we was out playing made up our own games children today sitting in front of a comper or looking at a mobile no fresh air I loved my childhood it was smashing thank you for this little video

[@miamitten1123]

You just didn’t have the technology. If mobiles exist then, things would have been the same way f not worse as that era in time you didn’t have foresight on mental affects from technology like we do now.

[@estellemoseley2348]

Not to forget as well that it's so 'rosy' likely because of the oppression of women and the ability for households to survive on just one income. That's impossible these days!

[@jahirareyes1102]

@@miamitten1123 I don't agree ,you see they had a whole different idea and view of certain things ,which cannot be ignored and so even if you were to apply that it would probably look different i think.

[@jaijai5250]

Very true about obesity. Most people had nutritious home cooked meals, even school dinners were real food. We weren’t obese or overweight, because we walked a lot and played outside. I instilled those qualities in my children. We walked to school even though we had a car. I ensured they took lots of supervised exercise, and I didn’t but fizzy, sweet drinks, unless it was a birthday.

[@Treviscoe]

@@jaijai5250 Ah, school dinners. Blancmange with skin on, prunes and custard, cod roe, sago and tapioca milk puddings - kids wouldn't eat that now.

[@andrewrussell4707]

An excellent review of the working classes. That middle group where they preferred to eat simply and afford live in a nice house were termed ‘spam valley’ residents. Note how everyone is well mannered, well dressed and courteous. Where did all those attributes go to?

[@Loupdelou-ly1ve]

I'm nostalgic for a time when the structuring of sentences was beautiful but effortless, alas no longer used - "I keep a good table, you know..." I just love that. AND I'd love to see what the little boy at 4:55 looked like when he grew up - he looks like a beautiful little doll here!

[@michaellucas4873]

Most people tended to be pretty independent and self-sufficient in those days, and rarely complained even though life could be something of a struggle at times. How things change.

[@MLSNYC88]

You could run a house on one wage. Try that now.

[@frugalitystartsathome4889]

@@MLSNYC88perhaps if people ceased to demand avocado toast for brekkie and two holidays per year as well as an Audi on the drive, they might be able to do so..? And yes, I know not everyone has that - but I’d put money on the fact that they’re aiming for it, rather than aiming for a cheaper lifestyle entirely.

[@GeraltJones]

@@frugalitystartsathome4889 Yeah, avocado on toast is clearly the problem. I'm single and if I want to live on my own, which let's be real, most people would, I'd have to spend the majority of my wages on rent and bills. No chance of saving - no car, no holidays, barely existing. May as well be dead.

[@mingmingyip19]

​@@GeraltJonesdid you do well in school? Get a proper education? That leads to a well.paid job. Have a weekend job whilst studying etc... saving early?

[@GeraltJones]

@@mingmingyip19 I did Open Uni while working 40+ hours a week. Only left with a diploma at the end after four years but I'm not massively intelligent - not afraid to admit that. I was consistently getting Bs all through school so nothing special. I don't think that university is for everyone and the idea that you HAVE to have a degree to perform seemingly menial jobs is ridiculous. I prioritise saving every time I get paid and live a very frugal lifestyle. I work hard and earn a few quid more than minimum wage which I'm thankful for. I live with somebody else currently so everything is split 50/50, but I've still only managed to save about £4000. Enough for a rainy day but not enough to do anything concrete like buying a house or a car. I'm more fortunate than a lot of people but life is still a struggle.

[@heinkle1]

Those original Crittall steel-framed windows in the 1930s semis are divine. They were only c.20-25 years old at the time, and PVC couldn’t have been imagined in a domestic setting. The houses retained such charm.

[@paulawakefield7869]

I'm desperately trying to keep the ones in my house going!

[@heinkle1]

@@paulawakefield7869 I appreciate they are largely absent any useful thermal properties and build up condensation etc

[@maxthelab8457]

Absolute nightmares to maintain..............and don't mention the condensation.

[@acrossthepond4792]

This is life I had remembered from my childhood and sometimes thought I must be wrong, but here it is. Just lovely. Such grand people, everyone so smart and nicely spoken.

[@BärbelPETRATibbe-Ferchländer]

People seem to respect another more in these days ,I grew up in Germany in the late sixties,we had our own fruit and vegetables in the garden,flowers growing between,in the autumn my parents bought half a pig from the butcher and my mother and grandmother cooked meat and made sausages in the cellar,because we god an old oven there fired with coal and my grandfather,as a miner got coal as part of his income.We had trousers with braid trimming to extend the leg if they became short and nobody was ashamed of it,we all had to make ends meet. We played in the forest and had a bike to ride to school and to see our friends. Nobody was afraid to let children play unobserved. Nonetheless we had the chance to get a very good education for free,I could study with a loan from the government and became an anaesthetist. We were a lucky generation,brands and devices didn't have the importance they have now and butgeting was my second nature all the years,my parents were proud to have no mortgages and so was I. I am thankful for these times and understand the worries of the young, but I always encouraged my kids to learn and do budgeting.

[@muttersmenu2422]

My father earned 6-7 GBP per week in the mid fifties, this had to keep the wife and 4 kids. We received 2 loaves of bread per day from the bakery where father worked. The bread was part of his wages. Veggies were grown in the garden and allotment. As for a car, holiday new clothes or a TV, just forget it! Fun was local and all of local kids appeared to be happy as we knew nothing else 😊

[@aussiejubes]

Wow. I pay a bit over 75% of my income on rent (I'm low income with a very low rent for Australia). I enjoyed watching how people's priorities are different. To each their own, I have no judgements. Very interesting!

[@philmiller2269]

A budget is the key to any household.

[@4legsgood]

50 quid a week in 1957 was a very high income.

[@anthonyclay4962]

About £1,000 now.

[@Lily_The_Pink972]

He was a scientist so obviously well qualified and well paid. Didn't say if the wife worked.

[@northernlights8126]

@4legsgood, I wondered about that.My father worked full time and took home £25 per week ( on a good week). That was in the late 60’s.My mother was given £10 for housekeeping and bought and cooked all the food for a family of 8, plus pets.There was coal to be bought, the milkman to be paid, newspapers delivered and clothes, shoes and other items for growing children.Gas, electricity and rates.Mortgage repayments and hire purchase for furniture too.My mother also worked P/T as a trained nurse to top up the family income.We had a good holiday every summer and plenty of Christmas presents.My parents were very frugal, nothing was bought on impulse, every purchase carefully considered.£50 per week in the late 50’s was an enormous sum of money.I wonder if that was accurate?

[@tilerman]

£50 a week in 1957 is equivalent to just over £1500 a week now. So the family on £101 a week just over £3000!

[@northernlights8126]

@@tilerman 👏

[@RobsonHarrison]

This is a clear example of how people grow to their income. Usually meaning that regardless of income, 'left over' cash is usually any higher.

[@Netehope123]

I like the first lady who improvised with growing foods in her garden and that she had almost paid off her house. Great video of another era.🇦🇺

[@dean6816]

And when people were poor, they didn't smash up the street where they reside...

[@Name914.01]

..they definitely did ...

[@rachelhele7827]

@@Name914.01not where I lived

[@RosemaryBrocklehurst]

​@@rachelhele7827 Well there were riots throughout history in Britain - from the Peasants Revolt in the 14th century to the Apprentices riots in the 16th century, the Cromwell rebellions in the 17th and of course the Luddites in the 18th who smashed looms, and then Peterloo in the 19th and hunger marches and strikes in he 20th. When people work their socks off but still can't put food on the table and have a roof over their heads that is what happens. Protest is the ONLY thing that ever got anyone anything including democratic rights to change the law via MPs, and to get there people risked imprisonment. How do you think suffragettes got women the vote. Not by sitting st home knitting that's for sure.

[@miamitten1123]

@@RosemaryBrocklehurstfinally someone who doesn’t romanticise the past and knows their reality.

[@jahirareyes1102]

@@miamitten1123 🙄

[@tangerinedream7211]

Shows that the biggest change has become housing costs, rent or mortgage. Food has become cheaper pro rata, but as a society we have to have what we want and can get it since the relaxation of credit controls late fifties. Life is so fast now, 24/7, watching all these old films it did seem calmer and slower, more time to enjoy it .😉

[@Grabfma040508]

Car snd homeowner’s Insurance is a killer for most now .

[@Lily_The_Pink972]

Life was so much simpler back then. There weren't the consumer goods and technology that we have today. And most mums either stayed at home or worked part time. My dad worked two jobs or overtime when available so we could have a seaside holiday. Mum made most of our clothes and soft furnishings for the house.

[@RosemaryBrocklehurst]

Not many books in our house

[@Lily_The_Pink972]

@RosemaryBrocklehurst We were lucky, there were always books to read. And we had a good local library.

[@lat1419]

Being a housewife was full-time and at times heavy work.

[@jaijai5250]

@@lat1419some women, like my mother worked full time once my sister was in school; and she was the youngest of four. She then came home and cooked a proper meal consisting of meat, vegetables and rice in the evenings, and our house was spotless. That was how a lot of married women from Jamaica ran their lives. Plus we weren’t given social housing, so my parents and grandparents had to buy their houses.

[@lat1419]

@jaijai5250 I know many women who have worked full time and kept a spotless house too. Doing 2 jobs in fact. I'm talking about times when there were no home appliances (that were affordable). No washing machine, hoovers, or fridges or freezers. Where we washed sheets by hand in a sink, wrung out on the yard with a manual mangle on the line. I remember the sheets on the line being covered a black smuts from the coal fires. Toilet in the yard, coal in the cellar to be broken and carried in buckets to light fires. People have no idea how hard we worked just to keep our lives running. My own past in St Ann's is on YT showing how the working class lived in the 60s.

[@pearljam619]

Everyone is so well spoken. What happened to us?

[@w.dossett3332]

They were BBC watchers lollll, no one else could afford a television

[@Olivia-vn1tf]

It's progress innit

[@pearljam619]

@@Olivia-vn1tf I get you bro.

[@chris-ub8in]

Immigrants

[@veraaddoyobo8482]

Whaaaat? So emigrants force you to lose a proper way to speak English ​@@chris-ub8in

[@fishtales2597]

You ate what you were given, discipline was the norm and you respected your elders, unlike the generation growing up now

[@florenceobrien2822]

Absolutely

[@williamtoner8674]

Silly old fart 😂

[@Treviscoe]

Yes, but there was a big difference. If you were born in 1957 (the year of this program), most of the people you would have known (and all the adults) would have gone through the previous war and many of the men would have actually fought in it or in WWI. Boys have a natural respect for old soldiers, especially those who have seen the sharp end of battle. Older people now mostly don't have that advantage (though it is of course good that we haven't had a major war recently).

[@williamtoner8674]

old fart 😆

[@ThunderFrost31]

In Canada I am single and I earn $3800 per month. 45% goes to my mortgage. 13% goes to food. 10% to utilities. 6% property tax. 7% to insurance. 5% to internet/T.V. I own a car, but I hardly drive it as my work recently gave me a work van. The rest I save.

[@miamitten1123]

What’s your point!? Sounds like you’re living just to work and pay bills

[@Sp00nexe]

​​@@miamitten1123It may surprise you as to what most people throughout history and to this day usually spend their day doing

[@alexanderrahl482]

​@@Sp00nexe That don't mean it's the right thing to do.. Work until you die. Who made that a rule?

[@Sp00nexe]

@@alexanderrahl482 I never implied that working until you die was a natural thing to do, considering that for most of history although your work was for subsistence (farming to literally survive, not even sell), your family would also take care of you once you reached the age you would no longer be able to do tough manual labor, which is usually around your late 50s and early 60s.

[@killerdoug20]

Irritating how far we come in a short time. BBC archive is brilliant

[@east_coastt]

What do you mean?

[@killerdoug20]

@@east_coastt every thing is all too convenient people have lost jobs over it. Not as social and so much waste. Surely that you've watched the video and others to tell the difference and make a comparison. I miss the old English stereotype dressed well, well mannered and community based not to say that doesn't happen but it was better performed then?

[@east_coastt]

@@killerdoug20 I agree - we’ve lost a lot of community and wellness by making everything convenient. We’ve also gained a lot, but we have lost things too

[@ln5747]

​@@east_coastt what have we gained, aside from technical innovation (which can also be a negative)?

[@killerdoug20]

Almost nothing if anything regressed back. But luckily people archive lots of useful old TV radio and manuals. Gives me hope of like-minded people

[@Celeste-dp5ur]

what a simple, straightforward, sensible, self-respecting, mature way to live.

[@jacqueline8559]

Food was cheaper. What was noticeable, to me, was the difference in the way people shopped, compared to today. Many didn't have fridges. Women went food shopping every day, or every couple of days, for the food they needed during that short period . Supermarkets didn't exist. They went to the butcher, greengrocer etc, They weren't faced with endless rows of rubbish, like processed crisps, biscuits, cakes etc., which people eat in abundance nowadays. ( adding pounds to the weekly shop, yet no nutrition). They home baked, and some grew their own vegetables, salads and fruit. It was a healthier , cheaper life, foodwise, if you were a good home manager

[@M_SC]

Food was NOT cheaper.

[@johnmaurer2035]

Nothing tastes of anything today.

[@Jane-rc2rk]

Food wasn’t cheaper … and some was still rationed.

[@northernlights8126]

💯I see row upon row of processed food at my local supermarket.Most of it I wouldn’t touch.Virtually every meal was made from scratch then.We didn’t have a lot of money growing up(I’m one of 6 children), but we had a very good and varied diet.

[@AC........]

Women work full time jobs now, we don't have time to go shopping for groceries everyday!

[@nanniecath528]

These days we want far too much - big house, 2 cars, 2 bathrooms, media room and costly entertainment and fast food.

[@RobsonHarrison]

The simpler days often do look much more attractive.

[@anyaharris5617]

Not for long - times are changing

[@archechme]

what's wrong with that?

[@anyaharris5617]

@@archechme Nothing, if you can afford it. The problem these days is people can't afford it, but still think they can.

[@RosemaryBrocklehurst]

Media room? Big house? Two cars. I am 74 and never had that.

[@elizabethannegrey6285]

What a delightful video. People are neat; their homes are orderly, no swearing, gardens are neat. It makes one wonder about all this “progress”.

[@Immanuel-r7z]

Christian families are like that now!

[@SG-wi9kd]

I was brought up in the 1970’s and can confirm that these people were clearly in the upper brackets of society. None of these people lived on a council estate. Do not be mistaken in thinking these were your typical families in the 50’s. People in general though were more eloquent. There was a lot of poverty back then - but it was normal and people just got on with it.

[@turboslag]

Reason for many social problems today is the over generous welfare system. If you didn't work back then, the dole, as it was known at the time, was not an alternative to work long term, as it has become.

[@onewheelatatime2905]

@@turboslagI’ve had to have universal credit for the last two years. I’ve been signed of work as I have come out of a domestic abuse relationship of nearly thirty years. I’ve had significant problems with recovering from it. Not everyone on benefits is a lazy scrounger. I’m hoping to be able to go back to work soon. But I’m incredibly grateful that benefits were available as it meant I could leave the relationship.

[@turboslag]

@@onewheelatatime2905 I didn't say all benefit claimants were lazy scroungers. What I meant is the benefits system is open to abuse by those that know how to exploit it, like for example the recent case of Romanians who claimed millions over years for people that didn't exist. However, there are almost 6 million people claiming esa and pip, and over 22.6 million people claiming some sort of benefit, does that seem realistic?! That's almost a third of the population!! And if you're working, you are paying for that. It's also increasing, mainly due to mass, uncontrolled immigration. At the same time, employers are having great difficulty in filling job vacancies! Something doesn't add up. Personally, I think if someone is not ill but is unemployed for longer than say 3 months and claiming benefit, then a job should be allocated to them and they must take it. Maybe it isn't what they want, but it's better to work than be unemployed, getting out of the work routine is a downward spiral. This would give those that perhaps lack motivation to be more active in looking for a preferred job than possibly street cleaning or fruit picking etc. I have personal experience of people that work extremely hard for not much better than minimum wage, despite having some fairly difficult personal circumstances for some. Those are care workers who help with personal care for my very elderly mum. Some of them are quite young, as young as 18, but they are up every morning, as early as 5am, and working as late as 11pm, weekends included, 2 on 2 off, bank holidays, Christmas, new year etc. some are in their 50s with health problems themselves, but work the same hours. Some have left and moved on to more convenient jobs, some are still in education so working around that. Some have demanding family responsibilities. But, they are working, and working hard, and not getting much recognition for what is a vital and very responsible role. So, if they can manage that, then I'm sure many others could find something rather than claim benefits. Better for them, better for the country.

[@suelawson7273]

​@onewheelatatime2905 I'm with you. We are exactly the people the benefit system was designed to help, I'm grateful for it. At the turn of the 1900's, people like us would have been made to turn to the workhouse, we wouldn't have been allowed to keep our children 😢 every system has to deal (sadly) with a certain amount of fraud. I still think if we want to discuss tax evasion, etc, look at the bank accounts of the rich before the poor!

[@CyclingSteve]

Wow just 20% of income spent on rent! It's more like 50% of income these days and has been for years. We really need increase caps like other countries.

[@apebass2215]

Or we need to increase the amount of housing stock available to native people by not importing foreigners.

[@fizrar6]

Increase rent caps and reduce the number of houses available to rent. Not the best idea.

[@davidlloyd1526]

I assumed you missed the 50% on food part?

[@nonnobis2232]

​@@davidlloyd1526that's the worst part. One can within reason always move somewhere cheaper, to a smaller place or not as nice area, but you can't reduce your reasonable food intake. It's criminal we produce so little food from our own land. And yet some want to build more houses in rural areas and get farmers to build wind turbines. Madness.

[@Fishingadventureuk]

70% In most cases

[@fburton8]

Fascinating to see how the relative costs of different items were different in those days.

[@matthewlittle9063]

Rent was so cheap in those days.

[@clavichord]

​@@matthewlittle9063Food was dearer, chocolate a luxioury, and the basic electric goods available eyewateringly expensive and unaffordable for most. If you saved for a long time you might afford a short summer holiday on the Isle of Wight... abroad was for the rich and wealthy

[@matthewlittle9063]

​​​​@@clavichordthey all say they spend £4 a week on food (even the family with 4 kids). That is about £81 in June 2024 prices. We are a family of 5 and struggle to spend less than about £150 on food a week. The last lady with 3 kids says she spends £7.10 (£144) which is closer to contemporary prices but she says she can't afford a car due to school fees.

[@clavichord]

@@matthewlittle9063 Difficult to say because many families back then avoided paying for food by growing their own in the garden or communal plots or allotments... even more so just after the War when people had to plant for victory. Less consumption ment spending less money. In 2024 we are all used to consuming more than in 1957 and not as self sufficient

[@bernadettec6386]

My husband earned £20 a week , my housekeeping was £5. The rest went on train travel to London where hubby worked , utilities, and mortgage. We did not run a car, certainly no phone, you went to the phone box to phone the doctor. No holidays, unheard of. And they say people are poor these days.

[@ashotofmercury]

Well, yes, people are poor now because inflation is through the roof. I doubt most people were living the high life in 1958 but they could still survive on one modest income! 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@jaijai5250]

@@ashotofmercurya lot of “housewives” worked from home and did other peoples laundry, house cleaning etc for extra money.

[@ianyoung2696]

People say now that they live in poverty, they don't know what poverty is , when I left home in 1982 we still didn't have a indoor toilet or a bath room & no central heating. People don't know just how well off they are today

[@Bedoyyk55]

Still a lot of people today living in unsafe accomodations with their families in between drug users & criminals (bedsits) or irreparable black mould for years and years. People with full time jobs going to food banks. I think if conservatives stayed in it would return to how it was decades ago

[@avalondreaming1433]

My grandmother was a school teacher I'm the 1940's in the U.S.and half of the children didn't even have shoes- in the winter!

[@jaijai5250]

Where did you live to not have those basic amenities in the 1980’s?

[@Stevie-steel]

Poverty is relative no kings or queens more than 100 years ago had hot running water for showers or washing machines either and certainly no one could afford overseas travel for pleasure

[@heytalvi]

@@jaijai5250I imagine in a Victorian terraced house that hadn’t been converted yet.

[@SusanStevenson-p1d]

I was born in 1957. I found this documentary so interesting. Everyone looked so smart and spoke well. We didn't get our first television until the 60's and could never afford a telephone. Mum and I lived with nan and granddad and my uncle who was 10 when I was born. Nan and granddad bought the house in the mid 30's and raised 5 children there. Money was always tight but nan and granddad made sure we was always fed well, warm and happy.

[@JohnHonda101]

Just wonderful.

[@mid-walesrover681]

No child minding fees to worry about. Family allowance (child benefit) was not paid for the first child. Folk were more resilient in those immediate post-war days.

[@zeddeka]

If you're in that situation you have no choice.

[@matthewlittle9063]

It was a much poorer society.

[@jtstacey83]

each household was two parent which isnt the case anymore

[@james2156]

Brain dead

[@yorkshirehousewife784]

@@jtstacey83in some respects that is down to personal choice. Back then it was a sin to have sex let alone children outside of marriage and the women who did get caught, were largely ruined by the shame imposed upon them by a highly religious state. In addition to divorce wasn’t always granted and again it was a shame bestowed upon the women so they had no choice but to live in any situation. It was perfectly legal and acceptable for the husband to beat his wife. And once married a woman was essentially chattel she couldn’t own anything in her own name even her earnings were not legally hers. A mortgage would be granted on 3 x the annual income of the Man of the house and any money earned by a woman wasn’t allowed to be taken into consideration. A woman could be fired upon marriage and fired before she gave birth. A woman’s role was always beneath a man’s and this was proven in the workplace as a woman , no matter what skills she achieved was classified in any business as unskilled or semi skilled and was not paid equally despite doing the exact same job. A woman couldn’t even sign a cheque. Her duties were to run the household on the family allowance her husband gave her.

[@danielmckinlay2833]

I think what strikes me is that folks are all relatively happy with what we would now call a very austere lifestyle. One reason is probably everyone else was just in the same boat or indeed much poorer as these are clearly " middle class" families. And after the horrors of 39 to 45 folks just wanted a quiet and safe life

[@LouiseMannigel]

Absolutely

[@imspyingonyou2243]

'We didn't know we were poor' A common phrase I've heard from some folks of that generation. I'm sure they did know but didn't see the difference in their everyday lives.

[@RosemaryBrocklehurst]

They were not happy. I am in the film and know.

[@ashotofmercury]

​@@RosemaryBrocklehurstso no one was happy because you weren't? Ok. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@RosemaryBrocklehurst]

No they were not that happy not because of lack of money but other personal reasons

[@carolinewiggins2803]

Love the three Grammar School girls playing jacks in front of the fire. And it was interesting to hear that the mother didn't want a phone any more so was having it disconnected and that they had already sacrificed the car now the kids were older. Looking at today's world through the lens of yesterday, everything seems to be about endless consumption and buying things on credit rather than saving up every month. Plus of course, everyone has their face glued to a screen 24/7.

[@VOLightPortal]

What a delightful and charming generation!

[@tilerman]

Just looked it up, £101 a week in 1957 is equivalent to just over £3000 a week in 2024. WOW.

[@chrisjenkins9978]

I got 2049 pounds?

[@cliffsofmoher4220]

Yeah but back then your avrage wage would have been £7 a week which which works out to be £200.

[@chrisjenkins9978]

@@cliffsofmoher4220 - That’s not in the range of weekly earnings they give in the film.

[@cliffsofmoher4220]

@chrisjenkins9978 those people are high end people who did high paying jobs £101 a week was only earned by 2% of the population at the time

[@chrisjenkins9978]

@@cliffsofmoher4220 - They said the average person made 12 pounds and under a week.

[@BluTacElephant]

I think if everyone lived like this - bought unprocessed whole foods, grew some, good quality clothes bought occasionally and only when needed, no excesses - the earth could sustain this lifestyle

[@yogajaxx8299]

Yes and businesses stop manufacturing tons and tons of plastic crap and cheap nasty clothes and goods that we don't need.

[@johnathanryan2117]

Given the date of the documentary and the age of the folk interviewed, ots worth remembering that they know real hardship and in some cases may have had it all their lives , even if it was a voice in a distant room in some years. It seems a much healthier, better , organised and structured time than now. Hope they all got what they wanted in the end

[@antinatalope]

Yeah, what a frickin joy to try to make ends meet.

[@Ladynipchick2]

😂

[@paulne9]

People spoke very clearly in those days no matter what their income was. It was the year i was born and everything looks so old fashioned ;-)

[@christopherstone4069]

It strikes me how back then there were people writing into magazines about budgeting. People aspiring to manage their money better, people enjoying budgeting. These days the culture has completley reversed. Nowdays people are inspired by and proud of how much flashy and expensive stuff they have. Regardless of how they got it (In some cases severe debt). Its strange and I wonder what it means for society. Also people back then just seemed so much wiser, educated, disciplined and articulate.

[@sharonhyde7735]

They had nothing spare! But still lived a civilised life, respected the family and got on with it x

[@jacklane6076]

Back in the day when people lived responsibly, living within their means, and willing to compromise and sacrifice the things that they deemed as luxuries, it seems these days, people just want literally, everything, and then complain when the debts are stacking up.

[@louisep5178]

I think we should encourage growing veg and fruit in the garden organic too.

[@jaijai5250]

Some of us already grow our own vegetables, and preserve them.

[@louisep5178]

@@jaijai5250 Nice 👌

[@greenzct9970]

History never fails to amaze me

[@miamitten1123]

Imagine. One day 2024 with be the equivalent of 1957 i.e….60+ yrs ago 😮

[@davids8449]

There is such a lot of it😁

[@ruthie2222]

I absolutely love this ❤

[@2bluehorizons4]

I was intrigued that they didn't mention the price of cigarettes, even though several of them were smoking.

[@michaellucas4873]

Remembering back to 1959, my grandfather used to get through 5 Woodbines a day and a pack of 10 used to cost him 2 shillings, or 10p. Not particularly expensive back then.

[@2bluehorizons4]

@@michaellucas4873 It's a lot if you only had £4 a week for food, which several people in the video mentioned.

[@michaellucas4873]

@@2bluehorizons4 No, cigarettes were relatively cheap back then. £4 would have been ample to feed even a family of 4 at that time. There were 3 of us, and mum never had more than the equivalent of £2.75 a week to spend on food, and yet we ate reasonably well.

[@bardo0007]

I love the old footage, and I miss the milk bottles. 4 pounds a week, a fortune!

[@varinafulcher5898]

Can still get milk delivered.

[@stevestannard6004]

Glass milk bottles are still a thing at M&S and also your local milkman delivering to your door.

[@yorkshirehousewife784]

@@bardo0007 We still have a milkman but they are very expensive and the steri doesn’t come in pints anymore (very annoying in winter when making puddings). In addition to my area has the milkwell. A dairy farm that sells milk and milkshakes in different sized glass bottles that you can wash out take back and reuse. These have twisty caps that you can put back on. Again this is more expensive.

[@ashotofmercury]

​@@yorkshirehousewife784that is amazing! 🙏🏻

[@silvanaspades1860]

Not so rosy times. There were many hungry people in those times. No social assistance and many men drank up everything at the pub. Walking everywhere and hand me downs were part of life...

[@jaijai5250]

Well said. People love to romanticise the past, whilst forgetting that memory is a lot sweeter than reality.

[@MohammadKhan-uy3iv]

Not only drink but smoking as well

[@Ladynipchick2]

Some of us don't remember those days with rose tinned spectacles. Quite the reverse 😮

[@miamitten1123]

What a lot here fail to realise is what changed was not people’s attitudes, but corporations and insurance firms figuring out ways to get more money out of people via debt, leveraging and credit.

[@Phillip-p1e]

The wife picked the house out and I said yes we'll do it... Brilliant..

[@csr7080]

It's incredible how cheap food has gotten and how expensive the housing.

[@analogueman123456787]

Overall, food is indeed a lot cheaper, but the massive increase in choice, availability and modern manufacturing processes has come at the expense of national health.

[@drgigglesuk]

Too much of today's 'food' is ultra processed - cheap, but far from nutritious

[@AName-pp8di]

People will always be stretched to the limit, the average salary will buy the average life with little to nothing left over. It’s almost like a law of nature.

[@icecreamforever]

Eh??? Record numbers of people having to use food banks. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease etc etc rocketing and food is so cheap.Tesco's boss is earning over £200,000 A WEEK. Hard up Sainsbury's boss has to make do with only £106,000 A WEEK.

[@analogueman123456787]

@@icecreamforever - Most of which has little if anything to do with household budgeting in 1957. Perhaps you'd do better making your point on one of the numerous politically-flavoured videos elsewhere on YT?

[@matthewlittle9063]

This is a great video, thanks BBC archive. They say most people's budgets are under £12 a week. This is about £244 in June 2024 prices. These days relative poverty is defined as 60% of that median income which was £373/week before housing costs and £327/week after in 2022/23. Let me know if you can find the estimate for 23/24. It is interesting to compare with this kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKK8qoOtqteqoNksi=MsNX3kGOSp4afKAH

[@SRDhain]

Fascinating. There was a couple who were earning 100 a week and paying more than half that in income and surtax.

[@harrykeane9027]

War debt gotta be paid

[@SRDhain]

@@harrykeane9027 yup.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

£100 a week in 1957 is around £3,000 a week in today's money!!

[@stephengraham5099]

Chris Chataway reporting.

[@johnobrien8398]

£25 deposit for a house amazing

[@tancreddehauteville764]

About £765 in today's money!!

[@ashotofmercury]

​@@tancreddehauteville764 that's still so cheap, omg! 😫😆

[@dorothywarren1441]

But then the cost of the house could well have been about 250.00!! So 10%. I know my parents in 1950 could not afford a new build house in Streatham for that much. The astronomical rise in house prices, and thus rents, has so much to answer for.

[@pingupenguin2474]

Wages were considerably less, though, and mortgages required a huge deposit or wage by comparison. I began work in 1974, on £8/week. I was nearly 40 before I could afford a decent flat ( apartment)

[@miamitten1123]

@@tancreddehauteville764oohhh a *WHOLE* £765. That would take the average working Brit 1-7weeks to save that. So, so long 🙄

[@joidk3961]

Oh god it’s so beautiful to see the rows and rows of houses as they were built! Before grey lacquer and awful buy to let landlords took ahold.

[@anneroy4560]

I notice no one speaks of listening the radio / wireless ... most people would not have had a telly but the radio, the BBC have always had good programmes / plays etc. I listen to Radio 4xtra often ...

[@saddaddrummer]

Where has all the "niceness" gone. Each generation struggles to make ends meet, and as each new generation comes along they look back and think we had it made, of course it's pro rata. There wasn't an entitled attitude back then, you cut your cloth according to your means, if you wanted something you worked for it. I'm seventy two now and I started work to get money at twelve helping my uncle sweep chimneys, he was doing that as an extra job to do the same, at fourteen every weekend I would help deliver milk starting at six in the morning, it gave me a work ethic that lasted me all through my working life, I just don't see that in the young anymore.

[@hopebgood]

I reckon there's a lot more "niceness" out there than you think Mister Drummer Man. People may be not the same as you or think the same as you mate but deep down I still like to think people are nice. (Admittedly you tend to meet the not so nice people on-line but I just log off and forget about them).

[@saddaddrummer]

@@hopebgood You may be right, or you may be wrong, opinions are like butts, we all have one. I find in my day to day ambling that there are a lot of self centered and narcissistic attitudes which I never experienced when I was growing up, and it's not very nice to witness. Yes, there are a lot of decent people out there, but I now question their motives for being "nice". I hope you have a wonderful day Mr Good.

[@KarenBeadle]

before we had credit! 🤔

[@jsa-z1722]

Wonderful video!

[@francisnewmarch6837]

Could you imagine telling the commonsense people in this documentary that you're 17 year old daughter has spent £1500 on the latest iPhone. Whilst I plod on with a £50 4year old banger that seems to do the same job. There again I'm the same age as the documentary 😢

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Sounds as if your daughter has far too much money!!

[@TinLeadHammer]

* your

[@apebass2215]

I bet the 17 year old will soon complain about not being able to afford to move out.

[@hsnell1222]

@@apebass2215 In plenty of places in the South of England £1500 would buy you two month's room rent. Up north, three months. £1500 doesn't o far in today's housign market.

[@pingupenguin2474]

Where did a 17 yr old get £1500 ?

[@wildorchid1307]

Amazing!

[@nrw34260]

When Credit Cards didn't exist and you had to live within your means.

[@RocketRocket-ce3ke]

It helps when what is in your purse is what you have to live on. Credit cards are the financial death of most people.

[@JD-wn3cc]

Budgeting now consists of just spend what you want until you then run out of money and then conplain about it and all the things you now cant buy. Its a reactive process, rather than proactive

[@chris-ub8in]

Good honest people back then and even if skint they were happy and not feeling deserving of handouts.

[@DIETRICHCICCONE]

England was clearly once a much nicer place to live.

[@MoMindSetCrypto]

This was a time when people did not have those silly hand devices that people carry with television, and international communication capability, these modern technological devices have created a society of high docility for the off spring.

[@easyuketuts]

£50 a week in 1957 is equal to a salary of £1510 a week today!

[@pennybunny]

When England was full of English. Clean streets, low crime, tough policing.. now look at London

[@juliajs1752]

When England was full of racists who were totally unashamed of their views. Oh wait...

[@keithawhosoever5384]

Now look at the BBC ...😮 On second thoughts , don't look at the BBC and don't pay their extortion tax .❗

[@Bessie66]

At least people could get houses back then!

[@suebradford5758]

Thank you 😊👍😊...i was born in 1956...and remember these Values 👌

[@lea24457]

£100 back in 1957 is around £1000 today they were definitely rich

[@chazzerj1990]

I wonder how much those metroland suburban houses cost now

[@frugalitystartsathome4889]

😵‍💫

[@imspyingonyou2243]

An arm at least. Possibly a leg.

[@tashaimpressions]

The bad fog my mum told me about those in the 1950s. They called them 'pea soupers'!

[@jamesbyrne9312]

Great video quality for the time

[@robharding5345]

There is something remarkable about 1957.maybe its the fact I was brought into the world this very year, My how our country has changed.

[@ginastann1959]

I was born 2 years after this was filmed . Same problems , just looked at in a different way .

[@BloodMoonASMR]

3:31 £4.15 a week for food? Oh, what a joy that would be today 😂

[@calvers7]

Equivalent of £84.36 today. Not the worst, but a bit tight.

[@helencoupland8331]

My mum and dad had 4 kids and had no land and house like this I think you got a lot more for your money then and no hand outs but more jobs available we were happy enough better than todays struggles in a way 😌

[@trudiemundell74]

These people of course had lived through the war and were enjoying some relief from the hardships of rationing.

[@Ladynipchick2]

True.

[@jopa1328]

For reference £50 a week in £1016.43 and their rent is £488 a month for a large family home, so not that poor.

[@JCKay]

Perspective £10 in 1957 is £302.16 in today's money.

[@anniejones1839]

Not many earned £12 a week, especially land workers. Not everyone had academic jobs

[@metalman4141]

Only the BBC could call being Skint a joy !

[@Phillip-p1e]

I keep a good table... Love it

[@ReedoTV]

"They spend one fifth of their income on rent and one third to one half on food" That's mad to think about these days