How things have changed in last 50yrs
June 29, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
Half a century ago (July 1957) Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan famously said that the people of Britain “have never had it so good”.
He was talking at a time when rationing had only just come to an end following World War II but Halifax has been comparing the economic picture in the UK in 1957 and comparing it with today’s situation.
Understandably, it has found that massive changes have taken place and concludes that the people of Britain in 2007 really have never had it so good.
The average annual wage in 2006 stood at £31,278, compared to a miser miserly £731 that workers took home on a yearly basis 50 years ago.
More people own their own home today, with 70 per cent of the adult population holding the rights to a property, compared to just 38 per cent in 1957.
We work shorter weeks today, with the average being 38.9 hours, while in the fifties they worked 48.5 hours per week.
Some things were better in 1957, with unemployment figures very low at just 1.3 per cent compared to today, while house prices were fantastically low at just £2,330.
The pound was also very strong in those days, sitting at $2.79.
