A FEW ROYAL FACTS
The Queen's Coronation is the event most Brits would like to go back and see in person, with Charles and Diana's wedding and King George VI's Coronation coming 2nd and third (ahead of Kate and Willas first dance).
65% of the UK will be watching the Jubilee parade with 80% of people choosing to watch it from the comfort of their own home on the TV.
10% more women than men said they'd be watching the Jubilee.
Manchester has the highest percentage of people who are planning to travel to London to the see parade first hand.
People in Glasgow are the most likely to be attending a street party for the Jubilee.
When it comes to peoples' feelings around the Jubilee, 42% said it brings the country together, 26% said it fills them with national pride and one in five felt it provided a welcome break from the day-to-day worries.
One in four UK residents (27%) will be attending a street party to celebrate the Jubilee.
Kate (the duchess of Cambridge) is the Royal we would most like to invite to a Jubilee dinner, with 23% of the UK vote, proving more popular than the queen herself. Prince Harry was our second choice and HRH was the third.
One in ten people said that the Jubilee was the event they were most looking forward to in 2012 (taken from previous research).
As the country celebrates the 60-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, take a look back at how our attitudes
to money have changed over the decades.
Red, white and blue flags are popping up across the country as we prepare to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952 at the age of 26, but while she was preparing to carry the weight of a crown how were ordinary people her age coping with life in post-war Britain?
The Second World War almost bankrupted the country and seven years after it ended, the UK was just beginning to recover. Unemployment was falling and homes were being rebuilt. However, people were still using ration books, and many shops had only limited stock. Average yearly incomes were around £589 and the bill for a threebedroom house came in at £2,000.
Today, life for the average twenty-something is very different. We can get practically anything delivered to our doors within 24 hours, the average salary is £27,000 and we have credit cards that let us buy beyond our means.
However, our addiction to debt has brought the country to its knees. We’re in recession, facing high inflation, high unemployment, strict lending regulations and high house prices. These days, the average UK home costs six times the average annual salary.
So which period was better?
1952
For Eric Treherne, 87, and his wife Hazel, 82, 1952 was a special year, not just because of the new queen but also as it was the year they got married. “Our wedding was very ordinary with sandwiches, trifle and cake, and we’ve still got all the receipts, including the flower bill for £6 and six shillings,” says Hazel.
In the early 1950s, the couple say life was very hard and friends and family helped to make their wedding a success.
As for household finances, Hazel explains that the banks were a ‘no no’ for ordinary people as to open an account you needed to deposit a large sum. Instead, Hazel, who worked in a dress shop, and Eric, who worked in a fire extinguisher factory, kept their weekly wages in a box. To help them budget, the box was split into sections, such as gas and electricity bills, food and clothes.
Mortgages weren’t a practical option for most either, as they were only based on a man’s salary and there was a real shortage of affordable houses after the Blitz. Hazel and Eric lived with Eric’s mother in Croydon and they say most people they knew did the same. “I can’t believe how we lived looking back but we weren’t alone as everyone else was hard up too,” says Hazel.
She explains that back then you could buy things on the ‘never never’ – buying something on credit and paying it back – but that was looked down upon and not something most people did. So, although money was tight they didn’t run into debt because if they couldn’t afford something they simply didn’t buy it.
“We’ve always been careful with money and we still are now as it’s ingrained in how we think,” explains Hazel. She thinks the problem today is that many people rely on the banks for money and use cards to pay for things and then lose track of what they’re spending.
2012
However, life is very different for Hazel and Eric’s granddaughter Clare, 26. They say they don’t envy her and the financial worries she has. “When we were young we never considered a pension as thinking about it seemed just too far ahead,” says Hazel.
At the time, the state pension was 10 shillings a week and as people struggled to survive on this, many grown-up children lived at home with their parents and contributed to the housing costs. And as the state pension was only introduced in 1948, it wasn’t something people relied on.
Hazel and Eric didn’t start thinking about saving for their retirement until a lot later in life and they were able to use other savings to top up their state pension when they did retire.
Then and now in numbers
A pint of milk: 1952: 4p 2012: 49p
Loaf of bread: 1952: 6p 2012: £1.25
A dozen eggs: 1952: 8p 2012: £1.68
Tea (per 40 bags): 1952: 5p 2012: £1.35
Annual income: 1952: £589 2012: £27,000
Loaf of bread: 1952: 6p 2012: £1.25
A dozen eggs: 1952: 8p 2012: £1.68
Tea (per 40 bags): 1952: 5p 2012: £1.35
Annual income: 1952: £589 2012: £27,000
