Asking students to guess the cost of living in 2001

Pints, pisos, and parents. The cost of living has escalated in recent times, and the generational divide never wider.
But does the younger generation realise just how good their parents had it?
Reporter: Laura Beveridge
Camera: Sam Sharrocks
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[@cantin8697]

I should've been investing in housing instead of not being born yet.

[@Maksimszz]

Trueeeee 😂, unlucky you just hit a bad roll on the dice

[@Rubicon1985]

Hahaha

[@quittalkingpish]

I'm stealing that!

[@thatpanfairy7176]

I should have been buying house 4 years before my birthday 😢 clearly I’ve fumbled the mark

[@samlawrence2239]

I'll tell you the only way young people buy houses nowadays - inheritance.

[@Masala-he5tq]

Fake news. U can buy a house on minimum wage

[@archie7218]

And then even that get taxed away

[@moomin7461]

​@@Masala-he5tqOnly if you're living with your parents and have no bills to pay. 😂😂

[@bob1234881]

Nope. Keep costs low. Save in your 20s and put money into low-cost index funds. Vanguard s&p 500? Sitting on money in the bank loses money to inflation.

[@HeidiSholl]

That or help from friends and family. I don't know anyone my age who hasn't had help in some way

[@dwnvwdjvn]

I'm 44 and I feel for young people. I'm angry for them. The people in charge do not care about the younger generation and they never have. Years ago I ran a Youth Centre and worked as a Childrens Community Development Officer. In 2008 all the funding in that area disappeared and people like me faced redundancy. I'm fine, I used my transferable skills to work in other industries but young people's services has never been the same. I've never understood why Britain cares deeply about animals but couldn't give a stuff about its young people.

[@jahazbrooga309]

As a home owner with young children I agree with you. These students are paying £1000 per month to pay off some landlord's mortgage. Something has to change. If it was up to me I would say no more second houses, no more blood sucking land lords and no more holiday homes in seaside towns, draining their population to ghost towns. It has been so ill thought out to have property prices go so sky high. No wonder the economy is in such a state.

[@musheopeaus4125]

Shut up people aren’t as poor as in the seventies . Look around you

[@jahazbrooga309]

@@musheopeaus4125 In the 1970s they were not as poor as the 1870s, and so on backwards in time. Should we be happy with stagnation? Or, should the working class not expect better health, wealth and quality of life as we fuel the economy in 2024?

[@Fky97]

@@musheopeaus4125that’s the point; 70s-00s living standards improved. We’re going backwards.

[@jonsmith5058]

@@jahazbrooga309I’ve been saying the same thing about Amsterdam. You should be able to rent one property yourself, with every additional property being taxed 50%, then 60% etc. Of course that still likely wont deter landlords so we’d still need to make sure they dont jack up the prices to compensate.

[@patchso]

When I was a student in the 90’s 60p a pint in the SU about £1.50 in a pub. My tuition fees were all paid for by my local authority (home town) and I even got paid a living allowance. First flat in Bristol, £400 a month. Bought a 3 bedroom house £350 a month mortgage. I own it now. Yet so often I hear people of my generation complain about the young having it easy! You have to ‘choose’ to think like that. Young people, please vote!

[@jujutrini8412]

What are Labour going to do to help young people? Genuine question. They are not going to make tuition free are they? Are they perhaps going to give them council houses when they can’t get a good enough paying job to afford to pay extortionate rents? A contributory scheme for mortgage deposits when they start work? Unions for every job? Union reps on every board of directors?

[@Zero_Ninety]

@@jujutrini8412 I don't think it's up to the op to decide these things.

[@peterconnor94]

​@@jujutrini8412Labour will do millions of things to make life better for young ppl, do y'know who was in power in 2001? Do y'know how long the Tory's have been in power? Hopefully not much longer, but over half of under 30s won't vote, I'm under 30, starting to think we'll never get of our arse as a generation and vote.

[@bishbosh4815]

For who???

[@archie7218]

To be fair though, £1.50 in 1990 is worth just over £4 now. Yes its cheaper (especially in London) but not as much as it sounds when u consider inflation

[@mrmeldrew693]

It's not even generational. My uni fees were £1100 a year, middle sibling paid £3000, youngest £9000 - six years between us all. I paid my loans off easily, the other two have much higher interest applied. The price I paid for my house eight years ago was not ridiculous - they bought recently and needed 35 year mortgages due to the price hikes in recent years.

[@jujutrini8412]

Thank you for pointing that out! Some people think it’s the difference between their parent’s generation and their own. It’s not.

[@JamesSomersetActor]

My brother paid £3,000 for his undergrad, I paid £9,000. He paid £6,000 for his postgrad the same course now is over £20,000 - and I can't even get a student loan for that amount.

[@ilikelampshades6]

It's true. Older millenials are demonstrably better off than younger millenials. Getting onto the property ladder ten years earlier could be the difference of £300,000+

[@mrcraggle]

My uni fees were £3000 a year. If I did a gap year, I would've had to have paid £9000.

[@musheopeaus4125]

So you earn more of the bat - stop whining

[@TheIkaraCult]

You want to know why young people spend so much time on their smartphones? Because the smartphone, for all its faults, is an affordable way of keeping in touch with people. Meeting up for brunch like it's Sex and the City, or going down the pub like it's Men Behaving Badly, is something the majority of young people just can't do anymore. The 90s/00s are long, long gone.

[@BaileyMagikz]

also contacts, credit etc has gotten to easy to apply for again like the 2000's (most of them ain't paid for their phones yet/ don't/ keep upgrading/ can't afford to buy one outright)

[@b62boom1]

I'm 54. My heart goes out to these young folk, it's not a good time to be starting your adult life.

[@Coneman3]

Situation has to change

[@hroyd]

Same here. 50s and feel sorry for them

[@niibor1]

@@John-ou4rm what rather than stay somewhere with no uni no jobs and no opportunities?

[@oxygenkiosk]

Same, at 46, no student fees at all when I was at Uni. So 4 years = 12k in rents and bills, back in the day. The Govt have totally screwed students over. They can winge about the costs but they have no sympathy or ambition at all to improve the situation, which is the main problem. But we also as a separate issue need to make sure we are graduating students for jobs that are there and graduating sufficient students here that we don't have to poach them from abroad. Whilst caring/developing and engaging with kids not interested in academia to be hands on plumbers etc.

[@Maksimszz]

​@John-ou4rm you are 1 out of 10000 candidates who got that job role so don't act like anyone can do it. I Literally had to ask my friends and parents to refer me to work, because no other place willingly wants young people to work.

[@michelemartin7276]

In 1981 my fiancé left university. We were both lucky enough to get jobs & were paid £7,500 & £4,800 respectively. As I’d put my student grant in the Nationwide Building Society we’re were able to get a mortgage & buy a new build Barrett bungalow for £12,000.

[@jujutrini8412]

That’s the way it should be, or near enough. Your combined annual wage was just under the price for the house. It should not be more than even treble that for young people to have to deal with. It’s not like they can decide not to buy and live a lot cheaper by renting either. They have no way out of working for pittance and penury.

[@pineapplesareyummy6352]

Prices are just numbers. What matters is cost of everything relative to wages. I never lived in the UK. I was born in 1981 in Hong Kong. My parents bought an apartment (in the most typical middle class neighbourhood at the time) for HK$300,000 in 1979 when my father (secondary school teacher) made HK$2,000 a month. So a middle class apartment of ~900 sq. ft. then was 150 months of typical middle class wages. Fast forward to today, the same apartment would now sell for around HK$15,000,000 (that's about 1.5 million British pounds). But a single middle class person's salary is probably around HK$30,000 a month. The ratio is now 500 months. Good thing I don't live there. I have relatives in Vancouver and Toronto, and it's pretty much the same story.

[@maxgregorycompositions6216]

Good for you lol.

[@MsAdam09]

What was your mortgage rate in the 80s though?

[@danunpronounceable8559]

That's what happens when you import millions of low skilled labourers. Everyone ends up with less.

[@carolynuk5068]

We bought a house in 2000. We saved our deposit through a scheme run by my ex's company. If you were a first time buyer instead of paying into a pension you paid into a deposit fund. Like a pension his employer matched his contributions. We saved our deposit twice as fast. This should be available as an option to ALL public sector workers who are paying rent. I've been banging on about it for 25 years and nobody listens...

[@KM-nr3br]

Never thought about this, but it might be the best, most sensible policy I’ve ever heard

[@themojo11]

It's a nice idea but it would end up driving the cost of the short supply housing stock up when they realise everyone has more money. The only real fix is to remedy supply and build more houses. Potentially some of these might work too: tax second homes heavily, a scaling tax based on how many properties are owned, remedy corporate/investment ownership.

[@KM-nr3br]

@@Rico-lg5ql think the point is that the scheme would need to be exempt in some way for it to work going ahead

[@anthonylulham3473]

help to buy schemes only help to push up prices. the old joke of the landlord coming round saying 'your rent has just gone up' for the tenant to reply 'But I just got a pay rise!'.... 'I Know!' says the landlord. same with house selling, and it just drives up the most affordable houses at the bottom before driving up the rest of the rungs as people want to improve on their living position. the market catches wind that the new buyers have more money, the prices go up.

[@crustywinnets263]

Would not matter, the price of houses is based off demand

[@Clockwork_Planet]

I'm 53. This is heartbreaking, we worked so hard to provide for our kids and the government shat it all away.

[@ramboshamone9888]

To be fair, beyond the state of society; even if we weren't all struggling to eat now then we would probably be struggling to eat when the famines and droughts hit in full force. You know, because of climate change, the other thing yours and older generations kinda fucked us with.

[@nigelbenn4642]

And you never once voted Tory in your 53 years? You're more of the problem than you think

[@vulpinemachine]

I don't believe any generation has worked to make life better for anyone after them in at least 70 years possibly longer.

[@maxgregorycompositions6216]

Nah, it was you Boomers as well, not just the government. No generation has been selfless enough to try and improve life for the next one.

[@bishbosh4815]

​@ramboshamone9888 are you fucking kidding me talking about DROUGHTS right now????

[@akaski777]

Wait until they have to start paying for healthcare

[@gordon1201]

Already do! Because fuck waiting weeks or months to be seen!

[@piccalillipit9211]

*IN 1988 ITS WAS 65p* when I started going out at 18. In the clubs it was £1.30 My take home pay was £455 so thats 700 pints - today that would be £4,725 a month THAT is why I was out clubbing 4 nights a week

[@FLYINGROMANS]

damn. what was your job?

[@piccalillipit9211]

@@FLYINGROMANS My bad - that was a month not a week ive edited it.

[@Alun49]

When I started drinking in the 1970's a pint was .22p......

[@keithmartin1328]

I remember paying 28p for a bar of Cadbury milk chocolate at around the same time. Which was bigger than what Cadbury sells today.

[@splintercast8092]

@@keithmartin1328 In 1984 a Mars bar cost 12p, bag of crisps was 10p and a copy of the Beano was 14p. This is imprinted on my memory because it was what I spent my pocket money on each week aged 8.

[@ramboshamone9888]

GUYS! GUYS! She had some kind of coffee or other tasty drink; I think we can all agree that that MUST be the reason she'll likely never own a house. I bet she enjoys avocado on toast too.

[@sonictelephone1526]

Probably has a nerflix subscription, too. That £12 a month clearly shows financial irresponsibility

[@GameDeveloperTraining]

I wish we could say these problems only effect students. There are people in their 40's who were sold the lie that things would get easier and they are still stuck in the rent trap. The big parties won't campaign for younger people since younger people don't tend to vote unfortunately. If they did, the Lib Dems wouldn't be struggling to stay ahead of a far-right party in the polls.

[@sciencefliestothemoon2305]

Tell me about it. Without outside money, even 40 year olds are fucked. Except essential jobs in the city.

[@ThisisnotTwitter]

I'm on the older end of millennials. Even in my youth, at that point, the idea of buying a house seemed like something that would ironically suck most of your life away. A trap that would push you into debt or unhappiness via needing to pay a mortgage which payments would only increase trapping you into a career and life with no flexibility or time. I saw it happen to plenty of my former class mates growing up. Something has to break and give way at some point. Can't say I agree with you that you think that young people would vote Lib Dems though. They have usually been a party made of the same weak sauce as the current labour party.

[@GameDeveloperTraining]

@@ThisisnotTwitter where you say weak sauce I see moderation. We’ve had a party of slogans and over-action for 14 years and the only ones who are better off are people who didn’t need to be. I think a more sensible moderate party is what the country needs to restore some calm, rational behaviour.

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

"The big parties won't campaign for younger people since younger people don't tend to vote unfortunately" That's not the exact reality. The exact reality is that older people: -tend to vote more -represent a larger demographic (and this is getting worse) -and therefore represent the demographic politicians will pander to in order to win

[@GameDeveloperTraining]

@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia that’s just arguing semantics for arguments sake.

[@9000ck]

i live in australia, bought my first house in 2001 for 181k in Melbourne. Same house sold lat year for over a million. the younger generations have been cheated.

[@thunder-hedge]

Damn

[@AJHornet1]

Unfortunately for you, the solution is to tax millionaires on their assets. Fortunately for you though, that’s probably never going to happen. We are circling the drain.

[@pandanation6202]

For context, the average wage in the uk has increased roughly 50 percent since 2001 from £20k to £35k approx... So your rent has gone up by four times, and your income by 1.5 times... Go figure

[@ilikelampshades6]

Nurses havent had a payrise since 2008

[@RM-up1ve]

For additional l context, minimum wage was £4.10 per hour in 2001, its £11.44 per hour in 2024, the wage increase has nearly tripled. If wages had increased 1.5 times, minimum wage would be £6.15 per hour. So this information paints a drastically different picture from reality.

[@ryanperera5243]

@@RM-up1ve That is the minimum wage. But for most jobs the average was around 20k about 20 years ago and now it's 27-35k. SO yea the salaries haven't gone up by 3 times

[@ilikelampshades6]

@RM-up1ve also, housing inflation is the single biggest cost of someone's life and is always conveniently left out of official inflation figures. So mortgage/rent costs going up by 30% in two years is never in the inflation figures

[@nickel7002]

An increase from £20k to £35k is an increase of 75%, not 50%

[@johnmunro4952]

I'm 48 and I wouldn't swap with these poor kids

[@gwyn111]

Agreed, especially post-Covid it's all gone bleak

[@fnfcgdcv15873]

Same. I'm 48 and glad I lived my uni life when I did. I feel sorry for the students, and young people starting careers trying to get on the housing ladder

[@jim-es8qk]

In 2001, annual tutition fees were only £1200. It was affordable. VAT was only 17.5%, too.

[@thomasj5083]

Four years before that tuition fees were zero. However, this was based on a small minority going to university. You did actually have to pay off student loans, though. These days it's just an extra tax if you earn a good income. It's not really a loan at all.

[@jim-es8qk]

​@@thomasj5083My work colleague is a young girl. I think she is paying roughly 45% of her income on tax if you take into account student loans. It is massively unfair.

[@JamesSomersetActor]

@@thomasj5083 the original student loans introduced in 1990 were also only repayable if you earned above a certain threshold, and were also written off after a certain amount of time. The differences were that you had to apply to defer if you earned below the threshold (it wasn't automatic) and repayments were a set amount per month regardless of how much you earned. They also were just a top up to the existing maintenance grants so tended to be much smaller figures than the tens of thousands of pounds students rack up today. The new loans system is undoubtedly fairer, and I treat my own repayments as effectively an extra tax, but it is on earnings above £24,990 which I wouldn't describe as "good income" - current minimum wage (for example) at 40 hours per week is £23,795.20.

[@JoannaHammond]

@@thomasj5083 And those student loans where crazy low as you couldn't borrow that much (1991-1994 for me.)

[@gwyn111]

@@thomasj5083 the worst aspect is the interest they charge now, profiting off the loans rather than just keeping them up with inflation like they used to originally (on a much smaller amount too). I remember for a while with mine it being 0% interest during a period of deflation (during the 2008 financial crash) making it easy to pay off within 6-7 years out of Uni. Now they're screwed, it's disgusting. Off course the rich pay off the loans straight away with cash and don't get stung by the predatory interest.

[@GingerPeacenik]

I had a much better salary in 2001, AND in 1991, for that matter!

[@piccalillipit9211]

IN 1988 ITS WAS 65p when I started going out at 18. In the clubs it was £1.30 My take home pay was £455 so thats 700 pints - today that would be £4,725 a month THAT is why I was out clubbing 4 nights a week 2

[@chedz3409]

same, i was earning more 20 yrs ago doing same job

[@MichaelFlatman]

I think what's crazy is that this generation will be the main workforce for the next 5-20years. These people will be paying your pension when you retire (if you're lucky enough to retire) Some people might think there's just no point to it all, work full time just for a roof over your head with no luxuries and nothing to show for it. I can't really see it getting much better.

[@roybatty4687]

I remember back in the late 1980s a man in his 30s in a panorama documentary ashamed because he still lived in a terraced house at his age.

[@cjwill9920]

Parents house 3 bed semi suburbs midlands 80's .....are you ready....... £7000! Thats seven grand! Seven ! Thats £22,000 for inflation! Now worth about £280,000

[@dananskidolf]

The fact that the cost of our most costly basic human need has risen by over 10 times inflation rather suggests it shouldn't be getting excluded from inflation figures!

[@yikes2540]

In my experience, a lot of my parents’ cohort are aware of inflation only so far as it impacts them. They complain about groceries and gas, but can’t comprehend how that and the many other expenses that people have can make living not just difficult, but nearly impossible. They mostly own homes, and are very far removed from rent-life. Fortunately, my parents are pretty aware and empathetic, but sometimes it’s hard to explain to them just how much things have changed. Obviously, there are older people who also live paycheque to paycheque, but it’s far more common for the younger generations. I have no hope of ever owning a home, it’s a laughable concept to me and pretty much everyone I know :/

[@0w784g]

Inflation increase is more or less flat including recent highs. It's lacklastre wage growth, stagnant per capita economy, and soaring house prices. Thanks mass migration.

[@pineapplesareyummy6352]

In your parents and grandparents' generation, the government also built lots of public housing. It was the post-war period. The Cold War was raging. The ruling class was in constant fear that the tide of revolution would soon sweep the Western world also (indeed, Communist parties were routinely getting 25% of the votes in France, Italy, Greece, etc.) It was out of that fear that governments conceded to building comprehensive welfare states, through high taxes on the rich, and a lot of industries were nationalised. Fast forward to today, everything is private. Governments no longer do anything for their people (well..except maybe provoking wars). You are living in a very different world than your parents and grandparents. They were the lucky generation. I was born in 1981 - just old enough to see a bit of the Cold War world, when neoliberal policies had started rolling out, but not enough time had passed for people to see the real impact of those policies. I can tell you without ANY reservation whatsoever the Cold War world with the Soviet Union in it was a much kinder, better world than the hyper-individualistic world today. I can actually remember neighbours helping each other. People didn't care about money. Greed wasn't seen as a virtue. There was actual social solidarity that doesn't exist today anywhere in the Western world. Give me the choice, I would return to the 20th century any day.

[@person.X.]

Everyone sees things from their own perspective based on the world they experience. For example the mass unemployment of the 80s in the old industrial regions of the UK was catastrophic and is not something people in the UK now experience. Now work is relatively easy to come by but the cost of living is much more of a problems vs 80s. It was no good houses/rents being cheap when you couldn't find a job!

[@3d1e00]

What we need is some sort of government led help to buy scheme that allows Students to save up for a pint over a few nights out.

[@malcolmgibson6288]

I'm old enough to remember beer was 12p a pint.

[@jackiejones1684]

Me too

[@brianferguson7840]

First job as a barman in 1976, beer 12p larger 14p

[@buntyjoy1800]

Yeah but everyone had rickets though ay 😂

[@olixz]

Good lord.

[@malcolmgibson6288]

@@buntyjoy1800 you young whipper snapper.🤭

[@IndaloMan]

Started drinking at 16 in 1976. 23p/pint for Mild, 24p/pint for Mixed and 25p/pint for Bitter. All Tetleys brewed in Leeds. Stella was for Sat nights, 28p/pint.

[@nowayjose1853]

Stella must have been the Real tasty stuff before the Brits wrecked it by brewing it here.. the same as other European brands. Thank god that Germany has not allowed that.😊😊

[@IndaloMan]

@@nowayjose1853 it was called 'Looney Juice' for a reason... 🤣

[@stevebubbs]

wait until they hear about the £1 pitchers back in the 90s 🤣

[@b62boom1]

My local did a stein of Stella for £1.50! I remember a group of us storming out of a pub because the landlord put a pint of Stella up to £1.05. I can still hear my mate shouting at him that it was extortionate, and that he was going to put himself out of business!😂😂 Much cheaper and simpler times my friend.

[@stevebubbs]

@@b62boom1 indeed :D

[@robbieshand6139]

At the student unions in 2001 you could get 50p vodka and cokes

[@jujutrini8412]

@@robbieshand6139 Those were the days my friend. 😂😂😂

[@stevebubbs]

@@robbieshand6139 I don't doubt it mate, I bet you could write your name with a pencil in your japseye too lmfao :D

[@Ianmundo]

I count myself lucky that I graduated in 2009, there were no jobs, but when I finally able to tackle the student loans they were just £19k for a 4-year degree in Scotland.

[@yc9129]

2001 i could go out on a Friday night have 10 pints , bag of chips and bus home for under £30 but i was only earning £60 a week

[@johnpullen3729]

2008 in bristol i was paying £150 a month for large room in shaired house. now it will be around £500-600.. We're being screwed..

[@MrGarethgates]

It's actually around 650 for a shared room now. 1200 for a 1 bed flat

[@MrDesmondPot]

Yeah but landlords only get to go on 3 or 4 holidays so have a heart and give them a tip 😉

[@Zero_Ninety]

I wish it was £500-£600 for a large room in Bristol. More like £750+ now.

[@arcan762]

Too many migrants. Vote Reform.

[@SnowofLight]

Now? I was paying £695 for a bedroom in 2022!

[@kdjshfksjh]

Wait until they hear what tuition fees were in 2001.

[@leetaylor5350]

In Wetherspoons in the early 2000s a pint of stella was only just over £2 but the minimum wage was £5 per hour

[@danielcrafter9349]

Easy fix: - raise wages and minimum wage - subsidise leisure and tuition via taxes - gut income on higher earnings by taxing them the same that Working Class is taxed Sorted. Casual reminder that we had a 100% tax for over 1.5 million in the 1970s

[@user-sx3pc4dj3r]

That won't work You need more variation in wages. A supposed free market needs to be accessible. Raises in min wage raise the bar for entry any one above that is being pulled done, like crabs in a bucket. More people compete on a leveled field. Means more losers, not winners. The gap between 1hr min wage and living in the street is nearly £12. Those who have nothing, no income, you inevitably put everything out of their reach. Total shut out. Raises are not the answer, you need less competition. No need less people, huge reductions in welfare. Without that, you are competing with those you shouldn't be competing with. But who's gonna do it???

[@TheCameronWatson]

Just to add. 1.5 then would be 29 million now. Just to take inflation into account so it's an accurate representation.

[@Lew-m97]

@@user-sx3pc4dj3rexplain how what you’re suggesting would result in a more affordable society

[@bigmackinlittleengland]

rent controls needed and compulsory purchase for empty houses.

[@sciencefliestothemoon2305]

​@@user-sx3pc4dj3ralso known as bollocks, the data clearly shows that a minimum wage that allows for an at least sustained life improves the economy all around.

[@2007sssss]

It's a bad situation, following the 2008 worldwide crash, interest rates were slashed, meaning folks with spare cash bought up houses for income, creating a generational situation of older folks feeding off younger folks, rather than money in the bank being lent to create businesses. On the other side, my parents brought their first home at 22/23 years old, both working full-time from 16, living at grandparents homes, saving most of their money, didn't do gap years, didn't do travelling, had no student repayment as never went to uni. Basic(bad) maths for a modern young couple: Joint incomes ~ £50k (after tax/NI £3,600/mth), monthly rent to parents and other expenses ~ £1.5-£2k. Savings could be £2,000/month, into a government helptobuy/Lifetime ISA to top it up 20% as well. So save hard for 4 years and there could be £100k for a deposit. My parents took 6-7 years to get there.

[@Jasperyeahhh]

Also, BASED LAURA. MORE LAURA.

[@archie7218]

Imagine showing someone from 2001 this video. They’d be horrified

[@gwyn111]

Also some of this is not realizing how far 2001 actually is away now (sob). If you'd quoted 1978 prices to us in 2001 (yes it really is that much of a gap!) we'd have been equally shocked at how cheap things were e.g 35p pints, average house price of £16,000, rooms to rent for £70 per month etc.

[@mothheart]

Mm. Best not to think about income differentials over the same time periods ...

[@anthonylulham3473]

@@mothheart lol average GDP is the most damning chart. its been stagnant for 20 years, making the nation half as wealthy by inflationary measures. plus lots of new arrivals working for Uber and Deliveroo rather than as the £100K doctors/engineers creating a bubble at the bottom for minimum wages.

[@MrRancidity]

Well I graduated from university in 2014, so only 10 years ago and I was getting £2.50 pints at my local. I remember planning a tenner for a Friday night and then getting tipsy and hitting the cash machine to make it £20

[@adamy2745]

Can you talk about how after 2008 the amount of rock bands from the UK in the charts just dive bombs? We are still going to see the same musicians from the 00s in concert in 2023/24! So much creative potential just evaporated with the last decade

[@jfluffydog2110]

Bands in general are a thing of the past really. Its all about solo artists now for some strange reason

[@nathanaelsmith3553]

I remember going to cheap student union bars in the naughties but I also remember that the beer was often watered down or off.

[@Joanna-gg4qx]

I was raised lower working class on benefits in the uk, I vowed to myself at an early age that I was going to make a difference and buy my own home one day. I went to university, got £70,000+ in debt. Got a first class degree from a Russell Group University. Had a mental breakdown. Pulled myself out of it, I now run my own business but am still living in my overdraft. Despite earning £1k-£2k a month. I don’t eat out or drink alcohol, hardly go to the city. Buy almost everything secondhand. Just work and rest repeat. My money goes back into the business and into my home which is a boat and needs repairs. Im just grateful I do technically own my own home but it’s a 27ft boat. Tiny home living is the only sufficient way of living in this country now. I’m 27 now I can’t see myself having children anytime soon, not unless my partner is fortunate enough to have a good job also. Im at-least lucky with mine because I work for myself therefore don’t need to pay childcare, can just work interchangeable hours. But then there’s no schools for kids that live on a boat. 🙄 It’s ridiculous the ways we’ve had to adapt in this country.

[@gedog77]

Using the Bank of England inflation calculator I can see my parents’ 3 bed semi on the south coast cost them £125,000 months in todays money when they bought it in the 80s.

[@Sheena1234ization]

£3.50/hr was around minimum wage for £2.50 pint £11/hr for £6.50

[@jmw-qt2ih]

I worked on construction in the North East and bought a 2 bedroom flat in 1982 for £16000 and by 1994 I had a family and a 3 bedroom house but despite having moved several times we have been mortage free ever since .

[@chedz3409]

thats nice

[@1959BB]

I've heard some older people saying they don't understand the van life too. Surely its linked with this - if you can buy a van, and live frugally, work remotely and be in a different place every few weeks then why not?

[@jodders619]

I remember in my 20's (in the early 2000's) my flat in Stockbridge Edinburgh was about £500 pcm today that same flat is about £2k pcm.

[@Pixiedust8399]

In 2001 it was a £1 a pint in Sheffield Student Union.

[@outsidespac3]

To be fair it was only £2.10 in around 2018

[@Alex-cw3rz]

In 2010 the average disposable income was £11,000 higher than today.

[@alexnowis2468]

I'm in 33, I feel kind of caught up in this to a degree... As I left school, the financial crisis hit, then we had the tory austierty, which saw services relentlessly cut, then the pandemic. I definitely feel in a slightly better position those in their late teens & early twenties, but I do think its important to remember us working ages adults who have been caught up in this.

[@andydyer6591]

I went to uni in London in the late 00s and if you were smart about where you went you could just about buy two pints, hand over a fiver, and get change back, even outside the SU bars. Part of me expects to still find that when I visit, and I'm quickly brought back to reality by my first round at a pub.

[@Nick_TV_Producer]

These kids are University of London students, like I was in 2001-04. Monday nights at the student union was "99s", that is to say 99p for a pint/bottle/mixer drink. I remember the Duke of Marlborough pub was the "expensive pub" at £2.50 a pint

[@JakeLDS]

Used to get £1 a pint in Mile End, east London around 2004

[@mothheart]

£7 for a bottle of wine at the College Arms in 2005, slap in the centre of town, just off the Tottenham Ct Rd ..... oh what fun we had

[@najmabegum5789]

80s and 90s student university fees was 3.5k and buying home all you needed 5K down payment. £11 per week for just bus pass zone 1,2,3,4,5

[@IgWannA2]

When I was at uni around 2005 a pint at the student union was £1.50 and a shot and mixer was £1.

[@EdwardLindon]

Add to this the fact that until 1998 there were no tuition fees and we were given a subsistence grant, depending on parental income.

[@patrickjones2985]

I went to uni in 1994 but lived at home. No tuition fee's and got the grant you mention. How could the country afford to finance the higher education sector then but can't now?

[@Kohanman]

one thing though, the prices are mostly in-line with inflation, the reason everything feels expensive is cos the deprecation of wages, due to lack of unions/anti-union legislation as well as the combination of not raising the min wage inline with inflation while simultaneously allowing high levels of legal migration, classic neoliberalism, the capital class engaging in internal recolonisation of the nations that birthed them with their lack of sensible tax policy.

[@CCP_Operative]

And the millions of people coming into the country and to the burden of high rents low wages

[@aheadachewithpictures]

Idk about that, inflation on £18K from 2001 would be £32K, pretty far cry from £53K

[@arcan762]

Too many migrants. Vote Reform.

[@queenfarfar]

If that is that your analysis of our economy if so you need major mental ​health support xx@arcan762

[@dessertfirstgateau]

Wages are growing a lot faster than prices

[@fedmcglowie7240]

I wouldn't pay a cent for that 2001 beer in the thumbnail.

[@IceKoldKilla]

Imagine getting drunk with a tenner. The wildest of nights would cost £20. 😂 That's actually hilarious! No way

[@catbrookes5924]

A pint of beer was £0.15 in 1974

[@ricohgill6523]

38yo here. When I started drinking in pubs circa 2001 it was cheaper to drink Johnny Walker Black Label by the double (£2.40 including a mixer) at Wetherspoons than it was to buy a bottle and drink it at home

[@anthonylulham3473]

that's a massive issue with supermarkets selling booze so cheap. its cheaper to stay home and get sloshed than go to the pub by alarge margin. 12 cans of stella is ~£15 which is the same as 2/3 pints at the pub. Ill stay home jack, save a ton on the mortgage. pub prices increase to cover the loss of mass being shifted, more people stay at home. Have a pub immune alcohol tax, to make it more affordable to drink in your local.

[@ahsa3746]

They should’ve mention the price of chicken and chips

[@deusex3124]

Guy with the sunglasses knows what's up. It says everything about the underinvestment in young people, and the country's future, that for many the only chance of owning home is inheriting their parents home and using the money from selling it as a deposit. Waiting for your parents to die to get a chance at your own home, that's the grim reality for many people.

[@moreplease998]

When I first started going out to pubs in the late there were places I could drink for 50p a pint. Average price I could expect to pay was around £1.50. Adjusting for inflation that would now be around £2.80 Find me a pub where pints cost £2.80 now. If it exists, it's a special case hidden away somewhere

[@ilikelampshades6]

Nurses havent had a payrise since 2008. I'd love to see the cost of living comparison between 2008 and 2024 to work out how much the government owe us in pay restoration

[@JHBEM]

It’s painful, at the same time what would the price be if inflation had just been the target 2% since 2001?

[@sherlockrobin597]

Minimum wage in 2001 was £4.10, so you could get 2 pints for an hour's work. My local charges £5.50 for a pint, so I can still get 2 pints for an hour's work on minimum wage. Wetherspoons near me is £2.97 for a pint of Carling. When I was at middle school (9-13) a pair of school trousers was about £20. When my niece went to middle school 30 years later her trousers were £5. When I was a kid we only ever ate in a restaurant on a special occasion, and a takeaway was a bag of chips. People now pay for food delivery as though this is normal and not a luxury. I'm 43, and our house didn't have a phone, central heating or a colour tv, we didn't own a car and unemployment in Newcastle in the 80s was worse than during the Great Depression. Some people have it worse, but most people have it much, much better than we did.

[@denty95298]

Even If the younger generation didn't get a takeaway once a week, the money saved still wouldn't get you anywhere close to saving for a mortgage, sure the home comforts are better, but them home comforts aren't in a house you'll ever likely be able to afford to own yourself.

[@thisismetoday]

2:15 Where in London do you pay one grand for a 1-bedder? (Or two grand for 2-bed?) That’s so cheap. I’ve been looking for monthssss, and a studio is currently going for 1,500-1,750 quid these days (without bills of course). Not sure those prices are correct.

[@VinoVeritas_]

Muswell Hill, N10

[@IceKoldKilla]

£53k is just the deposit to then owe for the rest of your life. Debt for life in many cases. People who have low income across the entire country. Sad what they've turned this place into. Not even from here. I move countries a lot. As much as I've enjoyed my time, there will be a day I will just leave. No other option.

[@DzogChen2]

I bought my first pint of beer in London (I was an under age drinker) in 1970 and it cost 2s and 3d (in proper money) - which is approx 11p in todays post-decimalised money! I’m a senior now and retired, and the cost of a pint today - well I would have never have thought it in my wildest dreams!

[@gaz9411]

The ironic thing is when people were saying if beer was still £2 a pint, they would've drunk a lot more, that is part of the reason it's now more expensive. It's like cigarettes, the price of production hasn't increased in line with the product's current price, they're just taxed to hell because the government doesn't really want people smoking. Same with sugary foods and drinks. I'm not saying I agree with it, but alcohol price increases are based on more factors than just general inflation. From the government's point of view, if people are drinking less then they've succeeded.

[@jujutrini8412]

At least they should make transport free for British students. Come on. Give them some meaningful help!

[@Mtaalas]

People, if you do not get yearly raise that's at least equal or more than inflation, you're getting annual pay cut. Never forget this and keep your employees responsible and look another employer immediately if your current one doesn't understand this.

[@PeterKlausRothe]

Rent is the most you'll pay. Your mortgage is the least you'll pay. Everyone is getting screwed, doesn't matter if you are renting or owning.

[@verystripeyzebra]

In the last half of the 80s our student union bar was subsidised, pints were 50p. Mind you they were only about 80p-£1 in the pub....but that wasnt london.

[@bailey3209]

37 this year and it's mental just how much I've seen prices have gone up

[@superspecky4eyes]

I remember going clubbing in the early 2000s where "All you can drink" for £15-25 were common.

[@anonomous8719]

Move out of London saves at least £1-2k outgoings a month

[@lukejones7246]

But how much did we all get paid in 2001? The minimum wage wasn’t as much as it is now!

[@sonictelephone1526]

Obviously, wages have gone up. The price of housing has far outpaced the rise in wages, though. I'm a home owner myself, but I'm honest enough to admit it was far easier to get on the ladder than it is now. Stop punching down at young people. They are growing up in shit times.

[@smada36]

It's funny, I was talking about the price of pints of beer with the kids just this week. I was at uni when the two pound coin first came out and we called them beer tokens.

[@Scubadooper]

The average pint in 2001 London was not £2, that was the average price across the UK but the prices in the North were much lower. A more representative price for London I would estimate at about £3.50 Similarly a 2 bed flat wasn't £480, i was renting an average place back then and it was more like £1000 Where did you get your prices from?

[@Rumblenuk]

Pints where about £3.50 in London in 2000. Even in 90s bout £2.50. So two quid?? Perhaps spoons but that would be unusually cheap.

[@stephenboud1711]

To add a some objectivity. The minimum wage was £4.10 in 2001

[@samgb7238]

I mean minium wage wage was £4.20 and it's now £11.44 for living wage in uk

[@HumanBungle]

This is all true and I’m not a Tory, but I just found a letter being accepted for a job in 2004 on a salary of 10,400 per year. Minimum wage now is about 23-24k? So that has also changed significantly. I’m not saying it’s not expensive, just offering some further perspective…

[@kifkroker6483]

Hello UK youngsters! For what it's worth, the prices on housing are through the roof all over Europe! And looking at two countries in the Commonwealth, Canada and Australia, the housing prices there too are INSANE! Edit: I'm 24 myself and I feel for us all!

[@BrianMcGuirkBMG]

In Jan1971, in Dublin, when we changed from pounds shillings and pence, a pint of guinness was three shillings and five pence just before decimalisation in February. That converted to seventeen pence using the new decimal currency.

[@holdmusic_]

'Elder Millennial' here - I remember the £2 pint. Sam Smith pubs used to be under £2 - I remember getting a half for about 75p

[@martinpatterson3417]

I remember back in the 90s when I was a student we could get a pint for £1 in the student union. That was cheap even back then though and it was only for one particular Australian lager.

[@TuntunGamer]

Slaters on Slaters Street in Liverpool used to sell a quad vod and blue wicked for £5.50, a turbo shandy or zombie for £3.50, and a double jd and coke for £4.50. Circa 2002 - 2004 ish. Not to mention a fairly cheap degree + loan. I genuinely feel bad for students / young people today as the experience is simply not the same. AND we had the Krazy House......😮

[@tc9694]

Was it really £2? I was just starting drinking then and I do not remember those kind of prices at all.

[@AndyFletcherX31]

Back in 1981 at Bradford Uni a pint of Old Peculiar in the student union bar was £0.40.

[@agnosticevolutionist3567]

You wanna go back to 1991 to rent a house was 260 all in

[@TheHonestPeanut]

Im in the US. My mom's 70. A pint at a bar was about 5 cents when she turned 21. It was $2.50 when I did. Now you'll be hard pressed to find a place that sells crappiest beer for $5.

[@chiip90]

I lived next to a pub in Liverpool in 2009ish and it was pound a pint. I went back there recently to see friends and family and was shocked and appalled to see a pint was now a massive £2.

[@AngelaPrabhu]

What’s the difference between 1978 and 2001?

[@ryanperera5243]

for most jobs, the average was around 20k about 20 years ago and now it's 25-35k. So yea the salaries have hone up by 1.5 times and costs have gone up by 3 times. Young people have gone poorer by 50% which is ridiculous.

[@silvafox7719]

There was loads of places in Newcastle that did pints for£1 in the late 90s. Planet Earth nightclub used to do a night where you paid £6 to get in and drink unlimited amounts of Carlsberg. I recall having around 30 bottles of beer on one of those nights. Back then there was no direct debits, and you could actually have a life on a meager wage.

[@Cinephileofmany]

“I would have drunk a lot more” We did. We really did 😆🥴

[@Raven-Claws88]

How can any young person hope to own property in Britain, without either parental help, inheritance, or going into it together with another person earning 6 figures per year? It's barely possible to save, or avoid starting their working lives in enormous debt. The current government either lacks a clue, or simply doesn't give a toss because they know these people will never vote for them.

[@anselmwinner1641]

You can still get £2.50 pints in Lancaster

[@jcreedy]

The system is broken.