Take a step back in time

Imagine living in London, earning £25,000, owning your home and car, and comfortably raising three children. You can, if you go back to the ‘60s.

In 1963 a salary of £1,357 – equivalent to £25,000 today – could afford you a very nice standard of living, as Patrick Collinson discovered when his father showed him his old tax returns. By contrast, a £25,000 salary today is likely to get you a room in a shared flat and a little left over after your monthly bills.

This is a stark contrast, and shows just how much the economy has changed over the last fifty years. It used to take a fifth of your salary to get a 10% mortgage deposit in London, now you need twice your annual income. And where in 1963 allowances could bring your tax rate down to around 2.1%, today it’s more likely to be around 23%.

As Collinson says, pushing for GDP growth as we have done for last few decades is important, but translating that into decent living standards and purchasing power for successive generations is equally, if not more, vital.