What Childhood Cost Then Vs Now

Everyone remembers what things cost. Almost nobody adjusts for inflation, which is why 'it was 10p!' is both true and misleading.

The figures below are approximate typical prices, not exact records - treat them as a conversation starter rather than a ledger.

The inflation rule of thumb

• As a rough guide, £1 in 1975 is worth something in the region of £9 or £10 today; £1 in 1985 around £3.50; £1 in 1995 around £2.20.
• So a 10p chocolate bar in 1975 is roughly a pound in today's money. Which is about what one costs.
• That comparison holds for most food and sweets. It falls apart completely for housing, childcare and university.
• The honest headline is that small things have stayed roughly level and big things have not.
• Check any figure you want to use in an argument - the Bank of England publishes an inflation calculator.

Sweets, comics and pocket money

• Penny sweets cost a penny, and four black jacks for a penny was standard in the seventies.
• A chocolate bar was around 10p in the mid-seventies and around 25p in the mid-eighties - both roughly equivalent to today's price once adjusted.
• A comic was pence rather than pounds, and a weekly comic habit was affordable on pocket money. A comparable magazine now is several pounds.
• Pocket money was often 50p a week in the late seventies and a couple of pounds by the late eighties. Adjusted, that's broadly similar to what children get now.
• What's genuinely changed is that a child's spending used to buy physical things. Now a large share of it goes on subscriptions and in-game currency that leaves nothing behind.

Toys and the big presents

• A Raleigh Chopper was a substantial purchase in the seventies - the kind of thing saved for or given at Christmas rather than bought casually.
• A home computer in the eighties cost roughly what a games console costs now, adjusted. The ZX Spectrum was deliberately priced to be affordable and still represented weeks of wages for many families.
• Action figures and dolls were bought one at a time and kept for years. Collecting a set was a long project, not a weekend.
• The Argos catalogue was a wish list precisely because most of it was out of reach.
• Toys have got cheaper in real terms. Children have far more of them, and value them less. Both of those are consequences of the same thing.

Days out and holidays

• The cinema, the swimming baths and the bus fare were all things pocket money could cover. Several of those are now beyond it.
• A British seaside week in a boarding house or caravan was the standard family holiday and was within reach on one wage.
• Foreign holidays were rare and remarkable in the seventies, and increasingly ordinary by the late nineties as package flights got cheaper. That one has genuinely got better.
• Theme parks have risen far faster than inflation, and a family day at a major one is now one of the most expensive things on this page.
• The park, the beach and the library were free then and are free now, which is the most useful line in this whole article.

The things that really changed

• Housing. This is the one that dwarfs everything else - the ratio of average house price to average income has risen dramatically since the seventies.
• Childcare. Formal paid childcare barely existed as a household cost for most families then, and is now one of the largest.
• University. Free tuition and maintenance grants for many students in the seventies and eighties, versus fees and loans now.
• School costs. Uniform, trips, equipment and 'voluntary' contributions add up to far more than they did.
• Against those four, the price of a Curly Wurly is a rounding error - though it is the one everybody brings up.

Shop cards

How to write it so it lands

• Adjust for inflation before you say anything was cheaper.
• Small things held level. Housing, childcare and university did not.
• The park, the beach and the library are still free.

Where to shop next

• Things kids today will never understand
• Out until the streetlights came on
• Why 90s Christmas felt different
• Why nostalgia makes us feel good
• Growing up in the 80s and 90s
• Playground games we all played
• Test card, Ceefax and the three-channel years
• Adverts we can all still recite
• Sweets quiz
• 70s quiz questions
• 80s quiz questions
• 90s quiz questions
• Guess the year quiz
• Care home reminiscence quiz
• Christmas TV of the 70s, 80s and 90s
• 80s and 90s party ideas
• Free feel good tools
• Shop cards
• Hen party decorations
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Party bag ideas for adults
• How much helium do you need for balloons?
• Birthday cards for kids
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

Were sweets really cheaper in the past?

Not really, once you adjust for inflation. A 10p chocolate bar in the mid-seventies is roughly a pound in today's money, which is about what one costs. It feels cheaper because the number was smaller.

What has actually got more expensive for families?

Housing, childcare, university and school costs - all far beyond inflation. Food, sweets, toys and clothes have broadly kept pace or got cheaper in real terms.

How do I check an old price against today?

The Bank of England publishes a free inflation calculator. As a rough guide, £1 in 1975 is about £9 or £10 now, £1 in 1985 about £3.50, and £1 in 1995 about £2.20.

Are the figures on this page exact?

No - they're typical approximate prices used to make a comparison, not historical records. Check anything you plan to quote.