1970: How do You Spend Your POCKET MONEY? | Nationwide | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

[@freakinfrugal5268]

I love how emotional the little boy is about inflation on the ice lollies.

[@solar-monk]

And the top answer is: "Hamster food and premium bonds".

[@Markell1991]

Premium food and hamster bonds for me.

[@KiyokaMakibi]

ROFL, I thought I misheard the premium bonds part at first. 😂

[@borderlord]

😂

[@markc9991]

These kids can hold a conversation better than most adults of today

[@flyinghigh2000]

Considering the age of the footage. They are the same person.

[@90sHONEY]

@@flyinghigh2000 Good answer! Exactly like adult people telling children and teens that they have no manners. I mean - *you* raise them!

[@skyejacques]

It's the standard of education that's been lowered on purpose in the UK to ensure we are trained to work but not to think and revolt xxxx

[@blissy1]

Great to hear proper English children speak without using ‘innit ‘ ( refuse to call it a word because it isn’t) back in the seventies

[@JuntusOrothon]

Including yourself.

[@swampophelia2098]

What lovely eloquent children, now you can see how society has dumbed down

[@hilaryepstein6013]

Another delightful little film, I wish it was longer. They seem quite modern it's weird to hear them talking about sixpenses, shillings and threepenses.

[@garryleeks4848]

Don’t remember that 🙄

[@kevinskipp2762]

About a year before decimalisation, it’s weird that it’s quite high quality footage in colour, looking like it could’ve been recorded much more recently and yet 6 years before I was born

[@hilaryepstein6013]

@@garryleeks4848 Neither do I!

[@garryleeks4848]

@@hilaryepstein6013 I was only 3 when this video was made

[@hilaryepstein6013]

@@garryleeks4848 Ok maybe not then

[@dankennedyy]

im just blown away by their grasp on fiscal responsibility at such a young age

[@7kingkev]

Wow , a simply brilliant group of young children having a great debate with some very mature ideas

[@stevouk]

The sheer scandal of a decent ice lolly skyrocketing from 3d to 6d. That's 2.5p today.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

I like seeing these because it shows how much children could have a conversation between each other so well then.

[@MarlboroughBlenheim1]

These children are more articulate and mature than most adults today.

[@betsyrocks]

1:44 Hamster food & premium bonds & savings. I like this girl. She's probably really successful today.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

And the friendship and chemistry seemed really good too.

[@clemfandango619]

'Hamster food and premium bonds' is the most delightful answer to any question i have ever heard.

[@reubenwoodley96]

Oh my heart! Yes.

[@chriskelly5641]

Omg this is amazing. It was broadcast on the day that i was born! How times change. They are so grown up!

[@angelacooper2661]

You are therefore the same age as me - though I am a month older than you!

[@danrohn8821]

I love videos like these. The kids are now in their mid 60s and you think what each of them grew up to be and how their lives evolved. Fascinating stuff.

[@agemoth]

If you love this sort of thing, you MUST try and get hold of the '7-Up' series that ran for years, following a group of children from various classes of society from the 60s all through until the early 2000's I think, and how they all turned out! Maybe there are clips of it on KZbin, but I have the whole dvd set! EDIT : the whole series is in a playlist called 'The 7 Up series'! Each episode is is over 2 hours long!

[@frankieparsons1030]

Ah, the days when kids were polite, courteous and actually listened to each other.

[@mr_incognito9305]

And you don't think the BBC camera crew might be influencing that?

[@justmyopinion526]

No, I am from that generation. That is how it was. It was great to be asked what you thought because mostly you were quiet and did as you were told. ​@@mr_incognito9305

[@M4nvrs]

@@mr_incognito9305 Kids these days still wouldn't care.

[@eduardo0796]

I don't know if it is me or what. Now, I am not that old (born in 1996) but I've got a feeling the majority children from back then come accross as very articulate and seemt to be able to organise their thoughts in a way that makes sense. I also have the feeling that today's children struggle to complete a sentence or put their thoughts forward. I would love to see something like this being made today in 2022 and I really wish to be proven wrong.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

You are a bit late older than I am

[@tassiegirl1991]

I agree I am born 1944 had one child in 1969 another 72 and last 81 I love to hear these documentaries and see how well thought out answers are given by such young children.

[@sarahprice1375]

We were. Queen's English encouraged everywhere and reading as if you spoke well, you wrote correctly. I was born in 1960 and it was like this

[@Angela-kc5ui]

No, you are right

[@bvanessad4615]

You could search Russell Howard he has done some kid's interviews (although he may have partly done so with comedic intent). Very different.

[@denisescutt1865]

Aahh I remember those school days. 50 years ago!!

[@chrismajor69]

That wasn’t like my class in the 70s , nobody is jumping on the desks or climbing out the windows😂

[@makal5552]

Thats probably because their being interviewed

[@Daracdor]

haha ... true

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@makal5552 - And they’re being taught how to spell They’re.

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@hermanthetosser4219 - Thought it wouldn’t be long before the first racist comments appeared. Reported.

[@captainkenzie6873]

@@AtheistOrphan Ha

[@NikaBoyce]

man i LOVE these kids.. This is my generation but here in the US im sure we never had a discussion like this in my classes. These kids have learned so much by getting an allowance.

[@paulhease1007]

I was 5 in 1970 and I remember my class being this quiet and organized, no one yelled out of turn. I have been a teacher of teenagers in USA for 25 years and rarely had a class that wasn't talking all the time. The only reason they talk less now than 10-15 years ago is because they are staring at their mobiles. As a teacher it feels very strange to see such thoughtful students who are not interrupting each other.

[@angelacooper2661]

I was born that year, so for me this sort of scene would have been the late 70s at junior school!

[@alexbernard8907]

It's great to watch this news topic, I was three years old during the broadcast of this BBC program, great to watch news topics that you were too young to watch first time round.

[@montyyy08]

I misread the date as 1980 and was taken aback when they used predecimalised currency! Especially with such clear colour footage. 👍

[@MarlboroughBlenheim1]

This is how children speak who haven’t been exposed to texting and screens and twitter

[@paulhease1007]

Yep--most money went on comics (Dandy, Whizzer, Beano, etc..) and sweets (Mars bar, curly wurly, milky way, Fudge, Flake, Topic, Marathon)

[@dean6816]

Viz?

[@michellefalleur960]

Yeah, I was a Beano and Mars bar girl, my sister got the Dandy , lovely times 😊

[@richardl772]

In my day the comics were the Swift and Eagle, sweets were flying saucers sherbet fizz liquorice allsorts and Tizer.

[@meowstermeow2967]

That kid complaining about the ice lolly prices understand the cost of living tut tut.

[@Daracdor]

When I was 9 in 1969 the school opened a bank for pupils .. my pa gave me one pound to put in it When I started work in 1977 my first wage was $16.70p ... so that was quite an amount for my first bank entry . Actually that was the only money paid in .... a few years ago I found the payment book in our old house . I contacted the bank to see how much interest that one pound had made ......... None !

[@catherine59226]

Enjoyable video! Thank you.

[@johnmccaffrey5942]

This might sound strange to people today but kids in those days were definitely sharper, more on the ball as we used to say. They were also capable of critical and independent thought something tragically lacking today.

[@90sHONEY]

Aristotle was already talking trash about the younger generations so what you are doing here is neither new nor true. Humans have always been exactly the same. Also as an adult you should be careful of complaining about a generation that you were supposed to teach all the things you're missing in them now.

[@apebass2215]

​@@90sHONEY if you worked in education you'd realise for yourself that children have become increasingly disruptive and rude as the years go by. Social media and absent parents haven't helped children become mature adults.

[@NightimeInDeepSpace]

And that little blond kid went on to government where he implemented austerity measures, he seemed outraged about the amount the other kid got lol

[@tonysouth1313]

Yes. In years to come he became head of HM Revenue & Customs department.

[@SallySturman]

The dumbing down of society has never been so apparent listening to these eloquently spoken children. They had critical thinking skills and were well aware of the cost of living and the importance of budgeting/financial responsibilities.

[@willemslie]

They were also hand-picked to appear on national TV. This was not a typical class of 1970 (I was born in 1963).

[@SallySturman]

@willemslie Maybe they were handpicked but they still sound more eloquent than many adults today. I was born 3 years before this video.

[@Tim.Weaver]

I was at junior school in the late 1960s and, like Philip, I got 1/6d a week. Some of it was spent at on sweets at our corner shop, some I saved up so I could buy toy cars (Husky) from Woolworths.

[@JohnSwindells-zm4sq]

I didn't have pocket money, I didn't even have a pocket 😮.

[@Larkinchance]

One pound in 1970 is like $20. today... I was there in 1972 the year they went decimal. I was disappointed because I studied-up on Pounds/shillings/pence. Visited a friend who lived in Cranley Gardens, London ... His rent was 12 pounds a week

[@edwardianed]

Minor correction; the UK went decimal in '71.

[@Larkinchance]

They were still wrestling with in 72. @@edwardianed

[@Larkinchance]

@@edwardianed right

[@clipstone]

This reminds me. I used to get sixpence pocket money, it then went up to a shilling. All went on sweets - IMMEDIATELY.

[@peterd788]

4 ounces of sweet peanuts, liquorice allsorts and gobstoppers.

[@campbellgraham1979]

In 1994 when I was 15 I got £10 a week. That got me about 6 pints in the pub every Friday nite.

[@davidlister370]

Sure, Jan.

[@paulhease1007]

When will the teacher bring out the small milk bottles????

[@cerneuffington2656]

Three days before the school summer holiday begins 🙂

[@mistofoles]

The kid complaining that the other kids get too much pocket money was probably on 2d a day and a dripping sandwich.

[@bardo0007]

I agree with the boy at 3:00 , very clever answer. He must be close to retirement now

[@akoment2375]

imagine these kids are on their 60s now and probably has grandkids already

[@angelacooper2661]

I was just a month old at the time and eight months old when decimalisation took place. This sort of scene would have been the late 70s (junior school era). I am now aged 52!

[@Anita-rg5ch]

Wow love these kids ❤

[@williamfunggoldenoldiesfan6758]

I like how everyone is quiet when the the teacher is talking it’s remarkable to see how classes were back in the day. Man my class was that soooo loud in 2010s! I wish I can go back over 50 years ago to live my life there! Screw handheld devices and smartphones when you can read actual books from the library!

[@dusteddream3070]

You still can read books from the library

[@kickstartnetworking3347]

Thay are quiet because of the camera.

[@angelacooper2661]

Well, Will, I am as old as this footage, so grew up in the 70s and experienced life in pre-digital days. It was a less complicated era to grow up in! And by Jove, I certainly prefer real books any day.

[@snowdog9954]

Back in the days of reasoned, intelligent debate - take note BBC etc

[@iamjustaguy9777]

I love the part where the last kid forgets his lines.

[@mistofoles]

I can just imagine trying to translate this for the youth of today : "Ayyyyy ! What's he banging on about, him, that kid ?" "He said he uses his spendings for bling and fings ." "Riiiiight ! Got ya, bro !"

[@gabriel771100]

So well spoken and sensible, and this is a state school not a private school. Try speaking to kids today, you'll be lucky if you get a few grunts as a reply.

[@garryleeks4848]

Very true , grunt grunt

[@CowmanUK]

Seems to be a state school in a very well spoken area. I'm guessing their parents had decent jobs and nice houses.

[@4seeableTV]

Every class had one of his type. 1:08 He probably grew up to be a bank manager and thrives on turning people down for loans

[@callumsmclelland]

Lol I know

[@mrboonski1]

I was thinking the exact same thing 🤣🤌🤛

[@chrisleggatt3240]

He is boris johnson, can't you see?

[@ilovegot7754]

Such an annoying child, he's such a hater

[@jeffkingston67]

Glad someone made that comment!

[@tassiegirl1991]

The little girl that bought premium bonds with part banked part I wonder how she is as an adult and if her bonds won her some extra money, I hope so

[@tamas5931]

they are very civilised

[@georgelanders4271]

These kids are very well spoken, even though i really don't know what the hell they are talking about. What's a schilling, asking for a friend

[@pugi050]

Discipline and no iPads. Modern day living has made things so different. I feel sorry for the kids today and what lies ahead. These kids have more thoughts and morals than any world leaders today. The future of the human race really is in the balance.

[@neilmason3130]

A bleak outlook indeed

[@Lysterofsmeg1]

1970 was 50 years ago. These kids are the world leaders today

[@sophiefrancis8295]

Well luckily this generation is set on fixing the troubles previous generations gave us. We have discipline too.

[@danyoutube7491]

@@Lysterofsmeg1 They aren't private school kids, so they probably aren't, for the most part, in positions of great power, because such positions are generally held by knowing the right people (i.e. being posh, rich or both from the off) or being a criminal.

[@AdvancePlays]

These toff bairns grew up to become the Tories that have put us in the worst cost of living crisis the country has seen since industrialisation.

[@MBicknell]

We should Ask this question today

[@RetroJack]

Videogames and strawberry-flavoured vapes.

[@rajtkd]

So refreshing not hearing "like" every 2 seconds.

[@angelacooper2661]

Yes, I am fussy about proper English and refuse to recognise text message speak, having been born a month before this video came out. Decimalisation wasn't an issue for me as I was just eight months old and in the pram!

[@JustCallMeHorse]

In the 80's used to get £1 - £1.50 a week. I bought a Matchbox Car and a packet of crisps 0r chocolate bar :)

[@BeatUpRecordsCDs]

I’m living in the wrong century.

[@micahgmiranda]

The English are so intrinsically righteous. They make the rest of us look bad.

[@silvertongue3003]

Never mind the wrong century, are you sure this is even the same planet?

[@mattsan70]

we all think that too - where did it all go so wrong. I think Tony Blair was the start of it

[@atomictraveller]

no it's very obvious, you'll thump yourself for it. hint: they keep telling you it's not them, and if you say it's them, everyone says you're crazy. except like, history. actually, they have a big building in london, with the world, in a net, in stone, over the door. can you guess who it is yet?

[@pissiole5654]

ive been saying for years i should of been born in the 1460s so i can definitely relate

[@CatchingCharkraLight]

I was born in 1970..

[@AtheistOrphan]

I was born in the wagon of a travelling show. (Mama used to dance for the money they’d throw).

[@atomictraveller]

70, cazimi.. enjoy those pluto trines

[@fuckbankers]

Youngster

[@marine4lyfe85]

​@@AtheistOrphanPapa would do whatever he could...Preach a little Gospel, sell a couple bottles of Doctor Good's..

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@marine4lyfe85 - Yay! Glad somebody got the reference.😊👍

[@MrDirkles]

I'd love to see the exact questions asked in 2022! I'd expect the kids to ask what are savings

[@unnamedchannel1237]

If you select specific children for the video sequence it is easy to manipulate

[@unicorntomboy9736]

Fortnite V Bucks

[@cherylreid-panasiewicz6485]

​@@unicorntomboy9736Or Robux 😂

[@90sHONEY]

As the parent generation, you failed to teach them I guess.

[@ashlid5653]

they're so cute :(

[@Nadia..J]

Wow!

[@andyphilipson6983]

My goodness how attitudes towards money have changed. Most adults wouldn’t be so careful with their money now as these kids were.

[@MrDirkles]

The attitude toward money changed in the late 90's when loans were given based on the ability to fog a mirror rather than income and expenditure.

[@kenbrand8972]

@@MrDirkles yes and don’t forget credit card spending started like crazy in the late nineties too

[@heatherives8646]

I lived in a sweet / and toy shop but my best was quiet poor so i used to invite her to have tea every day after school and when she went home with a bag of sweets . My mum used to put six pence in Christmas 🎄 puddings.

[@Jean-rg4sp]

1/6 was not too much if the cheapest comic was 4d.

[@mrsmum3-6]

The days when education was valued and we were actually taught to think critically.

[@aa-qx1cg]

We have fallen so far as a society and they tell us it's "progress."

[@nigelsmith2044]

Yes when discipline was strict in schools....diabetic kid in my class, had a hypo, needed sweets, to raise sugar levels...strict no eating in class policy...he was sent to head where he was caned

[@tiapina7048]

Pocket money should be given as a way to learn how to healthily behave with earnings.

[@dsmith6785]

I can’t imagine asking students today the same question and getting such thoughtful answers back. We are a much more entitled and frivolous lot these days I think. Too bad. These students had parents born around the time of WWII and the Great Depression. Their grandparents hailed from between the time of the Great Depression and the Spanish Flu Pandemic. It had an impact. They knew loss and lack of. Even though their parents had more disposable income than any other cohort of the last 75 years, they knew restraint, moderation and what it took to implement and maintain austerity measures

[@christophercooper6731]

I get £5 a week, and I spend it on helicopters and hovercrafts full of sweets and comics.

[@naysmith5272]

@BBC Archive - can you upload the clip about the adults wanting to close the childrens play area in Farmers Way, Maidenhead from around 1975. - and the children protesting. It was on NAtionwide from around this 1975.

[@uoldisability3661]

The children seem very modern. And then come out with all this weird old money stuff and you realise they're not.

[@elainethemusician3310]

Well they were modern in 1970. They are probably mostly retired now; a few years older than me. Modern retirees.

[@angelacooper2661]

​@@elainethemusician3310I was a month old at the time of this footage and just eight months old when decimalisation arrived. Now 54, my era would have been the mid to late 70s!

[@mistofoles]

" I get 1/6 pocket-money." "I think 1/6 is too much !" " "Well, it's not really up to you, is it, jug ears ?"

[@SJHFoto]

Insulting a kid for having an opinion? That's what today's world has come to

[@jakecavendish3470]

"Smack and Rothmans. Jazz mags if I'm feeling flush."

[@garryleeks4848]

What polite kids , bet there’s no chewing gum under there desks and on radiators 😮

[@johnmcgahern3946]

Why would they chew gum under the desks or on the radiator?🙂

[@garryleeks4848]

@@johnmcgahern3946Because that’s what I use to do , and pea shooters , those were the days

[@AtheistOrphan]

And they can probably spell the word ‘Their’.

[@L.Drizzle]

@@AtheistOrphan Do you mean "their"? Assume you were being chippy and referencing OP's grammar error. You blew it, by the way - you can join him in the bin.

[@atomictraveller]

we were polite, then america taught everyone that children were brats

[@ricjuk]

0:43 Young Boris? Oh no, can't be - it's a public school..

[@KarunanithiNRamachandran]

yes ! When we were kids in the 70s we knew how to be thrifty .

[@kingofdubb2133]

I'm surprised at how much pocket money some of them got, I was 4 in 1970, but during the 70s my brothers and I only received a few pence pocket money, but we all got jobs doing paper rounds, washing cars, walking dogs, etc., and we also got jobs during the school holidays, so we learnt independence, and we valued what money we did have

[@hazelwray4184]

I was about 12 before I raised the issue, so to speak. I must have mentioned that other kids had a bit of weekly pocket money.

[@hellie_el]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@trekkie604]

For a Canadian - how do the denominations break out? Pound / Shilling / Pence ?

[@paulhease1007]

12 pence in 1 shilling and 20 shillings to one pound.

[@paulhease1007]

So 1 and 6 is 1 shilling plus 6 pence which is equivalent to around $10-12 in American spending power today. i.e one could buy about 6 candy bars with it.

[@peterd788]

@@paulhease1007 Not quite. It was 18 pennies. So, at the time it was around 50 US cents and slightly over $2.50 at today's value but sweets/candy inflation over the years has outstripped other inflation by a vey large amount so on a purchase parity basis it's around $5

[@katharina...]

​@@paulhease1007Thank you for breaking it down for us, I had no idea what 1 and 6 meant 👍

[@jasonayres]

Well spoken, well thought out responses. They'll be the captains of industry of tomorrow. 🤔It's 1970, isn't it.. They'll be the captains of industry.. about now. Regards from Jason, The amateur comedian of yesteryear.

[@jasonayres]

@tecdessus ah.. counting, maybe. Yes, everyone needs accounting.

[@fuckbankers]

I put mine in an ISA

[@Kid_Ikaris]

Those heady days when you could buy a ice lolli for 3 pence

[@michellefalleur960]

😂 😂 ❤ Love it !!! ( I was 4 at the time )

[@Kid_Ikaris]

@michellefalleur960 are you British? There's something about a pense that's so damn satisfying to say as an American.

[@michellefalleur960]

@@Kid_Ikaris yes I am (! ) Glad you love that word !

[@Kid_Ikaris]

@@michellefalleur960 Same. I'll make sure to start using it more. I'm thinking I'll break out the "no one asked me for my two pence but..." sometime during Thanksgiving

[@michellefalleur960]

@@Kid_Ikaris 😂 🤣 !! / When is Thanksgiving ? Is it right at the end of November ?

[@sunnesunne4039]

I always hear about how articulate and seemingly intelligent these kids are, but people fail to realise,this very same generation were running things these last few decades....and seemed rather to make a mess of things.

[@realnoahsimpson]

i just know most of these kids voted for Thatcher, literally as this was her constituency

[@mikeyandsky2042]

So when they say 1 and 6 is that 1 pound 6 shilling or 1 shilling 6 pence? Cus 18 pounds(the former) seems like a much bigger allowance than 1 pound(the latter).

[@Dylanesque]

One old shilling is the equivalent of 12 new pence.

[@mikeyandsky2042]

@@Dylanesque didn't answer my question at all but ok

[@Dylanesque]

@@mikeyandsky2042 What is 'Cus 18 pounds' when referring to 18 denarii as in librae - solidi - denarii - £ s d. I assumed your 'pounds' was typed in error.

[@danielwarren3138]

Definitely 1 shilling and 6 pence (1½ shillings)

[@Ben-xe8ps]

@@mikeyandsky2042 1 and 6 is 1 shilling and 6 pennies.

[@Brodie850]

1:08 is this kid pissing anyone elso off?

[@Brodie850]

Back before brittish schools weren't full of bratty prime drinking wannabe gangstas

[@ChubbyChecker182]

Matt Hancock is their teacher 😮

[@stevenosullivan187]

That was boris johnson

[@samsquid65]

Fantastic! We invented techno music later.

[@trayseebee2302]

Boris Johnson didn't change much did he. 🤣

[@Hunterdasigma]

I thought some of them when they said shillings said a swear word

[@bl4531]

Interesting- I thought the UK's money was decimal in 1970.

[@Ben-xe8ps]

Feb 1971

[@coliander4180]

Depressing to think that these days it would all be disposable vapes and loot boxes.

[@mmmm-lg2mj]

Not for everyone, there are still kids who like sweets, books and toys you know...

[@cardroid8615]

These are all working class kids, just look how articulate and eloquent they all are compared to this generation in 2024? It just proves how neglected the white working classes are today. If you research "white working class boys are the most neglected" you'll see how it's all been intentional policies that have allowed this to happen. I've done a lot of research on it and it's bc they've been propping up minorities for decades now at the expense of the English. If you think this attack on the natives is new then think again. Our civilisation and culture and identity has been destroyed in the name of multiculturalism

[@JoaquínLerona]

Seeing this great kids I can say that British people today have lost the original and marvellous British style....

[@wjames6040]

And my friend the other day spent £400 on a pair of trainers, the world today is f***ed

[@qster]

I would get £1 a week and go straight down to the sweet shop to get whizzer and chips and sweets, would spend that pound to the penny

[@paulhease1007]

you got a pound a week in 1970?????? I doubt it

[@qster]

@@paulhease1007 Would have been around 97 I guess

[@lunamoondrop]

I grew up in the states, the kids were definitely not this smart or polite (myself included).

[@atomictraveller]

i moved to the states later and now i'm not smart or polite. heck of a combination really.

[@garryleeks4848]

Don’t be hard on yourself

[@lunamoondrop]

@@atomictraveller 🤣

[@atomictraveller]

@@garryleeks4848 life is never short of volunteers to be hard on :)

[@garryleeks4848]

@@atomictraveller very true