Wulf's Webden

I recently saw a card with a list of prices from 1962 and also a suggested figure for average weekly income (men and women – there was a significant difference between them although it was far more common for men to work in paid employment and women to work at home). That set me wondering about how the prices compared to today, so I tracked down a UK weekly wage figure for today (£621 according to the Office of National Statistics) and worked out how much more the average person earns today (based on male income from 1962 and the undifferentiated figure from today).

The multiplier is fractionally over 39; today’s average wage is 39.18 times greater than that of 60 years ago. I could then run through the list of potential purposes from 1962 with the same multiplier and figure out what the modern prices would have been assuming undifferentiated inflation. The results were interesting.

For example, a cinema ticket (originally 6p) would now cost £2.35. That would be a bargain although you wouldn’t need many tickets to add up to the cost of most streaming services; cinemas were cheaper but a weekly trip would still be more expensive than having entertainment on tap via the internet. Houses were substantially cheaper – the modern equivalent average price would be about £116K. I’m not sure you’d get a roof over your head for anything near that in most parts of the UK, where the average price presently sits at about £300K (figure from ONS again).

On the other hand, it is interesting to note that some things were substantially more expensive in proportional terms. I’d expect to play less than £1.50 for half a dozen eggs, including some assurance of the welfare of the chickens. The equivalent 1962 price works out to £4.31, which would be well outside my normal price bracket. Milk would be £1.37 a pint, so the 4 pint containers I normally buy would retail at £5.48. That makes my grumbling about the jump from £1 or so a year ago to about £1.50 seem petty. Of course, the figure would be even more eye-watering if the price had inflated 50% every year since 1960! I can see why farmers complain they can’t keep going at present prices.

Journeys would also have been more expensive. A new Mini car would have worked out about £21K in today’s money. I don’t know if a modern mini is that cheap but you can buy new cars for safely under that from brands like Dacia. However, a litre of fuel would work out at £2.55, beyond the most gouging price I’ve seen (so far) at a motorway service station. It would be interesting to know how much a rail ticket or bus fare would have cost in comparison.

All the figures come with a large pinch of salt; I’ve no idea where the card got its data from. It isn’t surprising that inflation rises at different rates in different parts of the economy, and we still see that in present price rises. It does make you wonder if what we are living through now is truly a “cost of living crisis” or if we have got used to many prices being unsustainably low?