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The 80's Recession V's this one?

  • 12-03-2012 10:47am
    #1
    MidlandsM
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,737 ✭✭✭


    sorry, I know, I know, another fcuking recession thread, but how and ever....

    Over the weekend, I was talking to a few people. In seperate conversations, one guy told me that the 80's recession was much worse than this one..........and then another guy told me that this one is the worst, way worse than the 80's one.

    What do you think?


«13456

Comments

  • #2
    Interceptor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,180 ✭✭✭Interceptor


    MidlandsM wrote: »
    What do you think?

    Having lived through the other one, I can safely say they both suck balls to an equal extent.

    'cptr


  • #3
    Duggy747
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,295 ✭✭✭✭Duggy747


    At least the 80's recession had the Safety Dance
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7movKfyTBII


  • #4
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    I've a PS3, XBOX360 and UPC HD.

    This recessions is easy because I've entertainment easily available to me. When I was a lad I had to play with Cardbord boxes. They were great and all, but now I just want to kill nazis/terrorists/hookers...


  • #5
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    The 80's recession had nothing on this one. Mainly because in the 80's people weren't buying houses for 10/15 times their salaries or cars worth more than a years salary. The personal debt now compared to then is phenomenal.


  • #6
    AngryBollix
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,536 ✭✭✭AngryBollix


    sesssssion


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  • #7
    newport2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,608 ✭✭✭newport2


    Can't say really, was too young in the 80s. But in the 70s/80s, it was the norm to have peoples clothes passed on to you. The guy in school who had an Atari was very popular cos he was the only one. You got a second hand bike for Christmas if you were lucky. People didn't have much money in the 70s either, so it wasn't as much of a fall.

    I think what made this one seem worse than the 80s is that most people became used to a way of life beyond their means.

    Smash is right re: debt, but for those who bought at the right time or not at all, this is probably not as bad as the 80s, maybe not so for those who did. Maybe the 80s recession was more equally spread?


  • #8
    Turtyturd
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,397 ✭✭✭✭Turtyturd


    Give it a few years until Reeling in the Years document this one and we can discuss it properly.


  • #9
    godtabh
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 23,231 Mod ✭✭✭✭godtabh


    The current recession doesn't have 16% mortgage rates or people going to jobs not knowing if there was a job to go to.

    Now people have lost jobs but I think they are better off now than they would have been in the 80s


  • #10
    im invisible
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,372 ✭✭✭im invisible


    newport2 wrote: »
    Can't say really, was too young in the 80s. But in the 70s/80s, it was the norm to have peoples clothes passed on to you. The guy in school who had an Atari was very popular cos he was the only one. You got a second hand bike for Christmas if you were lucky. People didn't have much money in the 70s either, so it wasn't as much of a fall.

    I think what made this one seem worse than the 80s is that most people became used to a way of life beyond their means.

    Smash is right re: debt, but for those who bought at the right time or not at all, this is probably not as bad as the 80s, maybe not so for those who did. Maybe the 80s recession was more equally spread?
    it was acceptable in the 80's, it was acceptable at the time


  • #11
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    MidlandsM wrote: »
    sorry, I know, I know, another fcuking recession thread, but how and ever....

    Over the weekend, I was talking to a few people. In seperate conversations, one guy told me that the 80's recession was much worse than this one..........and then another guy told me that this one is the worst, way worse than the 80's one.

    What do you think?

    The 80's depression (even a few years up to it) was far worse in a number of ways (to me anyway).
    There was not as much avenues that could be seen, as to how to stimulate the economy back again.
    We were still fairly new to the mechanisms of the EU and how things were done, on that alone sometimes we were feeling in the dark, having hit and miss opportunities and disasters till we slowly learned better.

    There was also not (and this cannot be understated) so many charities and/or organisations that were willing, never mind able, to help out - even government help to those that were really down and broke - and I mean broke (I remember one day my mother, god bless her, having to bring food to a friend of hers who was heartbroken and depressed at not being able to provide for her children. The 4 kids the next morning really didn't have anything in the home to eat - not even a form of breakfast cereal.), so broke we shared shoes with other families and some clothing.
    - I remember the provincial town hall center in my town having to hand out EU unbranded tinned food in plastic bags. All those that had nothing, took these tins and hoped for the best it was eatable. Oft times it wasn't. It was worse than dog food, looked and smelled like it.

    My father bordered on the line of becoming an alcoholic at the time, such was the real stress and strain of trying daily to find work just to feed and clothe us.
    The schools somehow managed to find money to feed some of the 'special' kids that had nothing - again, oft times not even books or pencils, things was that bad.
    (School books was shared a lot more. It was normal to see class rooms with two desks shoved together, sharing books)
    One of the first things a teacher would ask daily on entering a class would be "Ok, who's got a book? Do you mind sharing?"

    There was no such thing as school trips/holidays away. I couldn't understand at the time why some kids got to go away for school trips and others had to stay at home on a regular basis. Be it one day trips or week trips abroad.
    The money was just not there.

    My father (electrician) we eventually said goodbye to, what seems like years.
    He ended up down in the construction of the Channel tunnel, he ended up in Bermuda for a year on a construction site. He rarely came home during the times but always sent home what money he could.

    Everyone we knew in our family was down and broke - and I mean everyone.
    It was a terrible, terrible grey depressing time and it breaks my heart to see vestiges of it returning yet again so that in fear, my own kids might suffer from touches of a depression once again.

    I am a man. I'm as stubborn and thick as any man can be at the grumpiest of times but will still admit to occasionally having tears in my eye when I look back at the previous times when things were really, really bad, when I look back at how my mother and father suffered - yet amazingly sacrificed food and clothes for themselves so my parents younger offspring could eat.

    It was a truly awful time and for many, there seemed no way out. Our local river took many lives and with news of each death, everyone got more depressed.

    Long story short, we (Ireland) didn't have the more means, resources, avenues, contacts, experience and much more, to be able to better our economy for some time.

    I could go on but I've said enough for now.
    The memories are still too painful.


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  • #12
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    godtabh wrote: »
    The current recession doesn't have 16% mortgage rates or people going to jobs not knowing if there was a job to go to.
    16% mortgage rates of house purchased for anywhere between 8-20k when wages were the same bracket vs interest only mortgages on property purchased for anywhere between 350k-sky's the limit when wages are nowhere near that.... Not really comparable now is it.
    godtabh wrote: »
    Now people have lost jobs but I think they are better off now than they would have been in the 80s
    How? People are falling into personal debt repayment plans that will last pretty much for the rest of their lives.


  • #13
    newport2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,608 ✭✭✭newport2


    im invisible wrote: »
    it was acceptable in the 80's, it was acceptable at the time

    That's my point. People in general expect different standards now, which are far higher than they were in the 80s. How bad things appear are relative to the standards you've become accustomed to. If someone thinks the 80s recession is about the same as today's one, then chances are the 80s was, because they expected less back then anyway.


  • #14
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,972 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    80s recession = state poverty
    00s recession = personal poverty

    But its all relative, the per capita income adjusted for inflation was much lower in the 80s and we didn't know any better, whereas this time people have quite clearly become poorer while being loaded up with personal debt. The only good news is that inflation and interest rates are not 16%.


  • #15
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    In the 80's recession it was far easier to escape to the States and work illegally than it is now. You try getting into the States now to work illegally and you will be tracked down and deported in no time.


  • #16
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    mike65 wrote: »
    But its all relative, the per capita income adjusted for inflation was much lower in the 80s

    But the cost of living was also a lot lower. My listen to my father in law telling me how he bought his 4 bed house for 8k and at the time he earned 7.5k a year ffs.

    Run_to_da_hills wrote: »
    In the 80's recession it was far easier to escape to the States and work illegally than it is now. You try getting into the States now to work illegally and you will be tracked down and deported in no time.
    Or you know, you can go abroad and work legally.


  • #17
    Gurgle
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,064 ✭✭✭Gurgle


    This has nothing on the 80s.

    The 'new' registration plate format was introduced in 1987, how many cars did you see in that year with 87 on the plate?

    Now, go out for a walk.
    How far do you have to go to find a 12?


  • #18
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    smash wrote: »


    Or you know, you can go abroad and work legally.
    Not an option for those that don't fit the criteria.


  • #19
    JoeGil
    Registered Users Posts: 143 ✭✭JoeGil


    The 80´s recession was much worst than the current one.

    In the 80's all areas of the economy collapsed whereas now areas like the multinational sector, farming and IT are still performing well.

    In the 80's dole payments were low and difficult to survive on whereas today people can live comfortably on current levels.

    In the 80's there was a war in NI.

    In the 80's there was no infrastructure but in the meantime EU subventions have allowed motorways, ringroads, airport terminals and rail systems to be built.

    In the 80's unemployment was high like today but labour market participation rates were much lower.

    In the 80's emigration was more difficult - more expensive and no internet to look up opportunities.

    Finally for those having to emigrate life was more difficult. There was no internet to keep in touch, international telephone costs were almost prohibitive and there were less opportunities to fly home.


  • #20
    mikemac1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,395 ✭✭✭✭mikemac1


    If I may repeat myself from a couple of months ago, a chid's view

    Hand me downs were common and normal, I wore my sisters suede jacket to school, I liked it and the lads never slagged me over it. Socks, jackets, jeans, everything got handed down to siblings

    Only rich people had two cars, many had none so you thumbed at the local crossroads. This was considered perfectly safe and school children did it no problem.
    Thumbing has not realy made a big return to Ireland, it's still rare enough but back then there could be ten or more at your local crossroads.

    You drove a Ford Cortina. A BMW or Merc was an exception and a head-turner, nowadays they are as common as muck. Having a BMW/Merc no longer means what it once did

    There was such a thing as running in a new car. Modern cars don't need this.
    You could buy a car late in the year and wait until January to register it. Wouldn't get away with "for reg" anymore :D

    It was perfectly acceptable to open your front door, call over children and give them money to go the shops to get you cigarettes. Nowadays if you give children money and call them to your front door the gardaí will probably question you as some pervert. :eek:

    You could spot the poor kids in school as their books were covered in wallpaper, I was one of these.
    It was common for families to share one book between sibilings. Teachers understood so if you didn't have the book they would not shame you.
    I went to a CBS so I'd meet my sister at lunchtime and we'd swop books. Teachers knew the score, they would never call you out or put you on the spot about missing books.

    A flight to the UK cost up to two hundred punts, ridiculous money. So a holiday was a day out to Leisureland in Salthill.

    Money was tight, people could not afford heating oil so you went to bed with so many blankets you could barely move or turn over. Years later I never feel the cold.

    There was no Wikipedia or google. You went to the cabinet and got the encyclopedias for that. People sold those door to door.

    It was considered acceptable to order a phone line from Telecom Éireann and wait over six weeks to get it. Nowadays people moan about the UPC call center as if it's a big deal

    Then just as now, the Dubs were arrogant when it came to GAA football and everyone was sick of listening to them

    There was no Oxygen but by the end of the decade we got Féile and The Trip to Tipp. :cool:. It's how Michael Lowry launched his career.
    On that note politicians were crooks then as well as now. But we still voted for them, nothing changes

    Mac the Knife became a household name :eek:


  • #21
    DoesNotCompute
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,375 ✭✭✭DoesNotCompute


    MidlandsM wrote: »
    sorry, I know, I know, another fcuking recession thread, but how and ever....

    Over the weekend, I was talking to a few people. In seperate conversations, one guy told me that the 80's recession was much worse than this one..........and then another guy told me that this one is the worst, way worse than the 80's one.

    What do you think?

    In the 80's interest rates on mortgages were thru the roof, well into the teens (around 16% - 17%), making it impossible to meet repayments for small to medium income families. My parents definitely struggled, but since I was an innocent child, I had no idea about any of this until recently. I just enjoyed an idyllic youth. Interest rates now are only around 4%-5% (I may be open to correction on that), so we can't really complain in that regard.

    Also, I guess people had a lot less disposable income in the 80's, since the lower rate of income tax was up around 48%. That's arguable though, because nowadays we pay USC, and a rake of levies, and charges, etc.

    Even though we're going through a very tough recession now, we have an excellent infrastructure and a highly educated/skilled workforce and have attracted and retained many a US/multinational corporation, and we have the likes of Microsoft, Dell, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, Paypal, etc setting up European or Worldwide headquarters here. Back in the 80's, the IT sector was nowhere near as mature as it is now. Some say it's booming now in Ireland, despite the recession.

    What I don't get is how people b*tch and moan about being broke, and yet spend a fortune on a Satruday night down the pub, moaning about the recession being so tough. :confused:


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  • #22
    newport2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,608 ✭✭✭newport2


    mikemac1 wrote: »
    If I may repeat myself from a couple of months ago, a chid's view

    Hand me downs were common and normal, I wore my sisters suede jacket to school, I liked it and the lads never slagged me over it. Socks, jackets, jeans, everything got handed down to siblings

    Only rich people had two cars, many had none so you thumbed at the local crossroads. This was considered perfectly safe and school children did it no problem.
    Thumbing has not realy made a big return to Ireland, it's still rare enough but back then there could be ten or more at your local crossroads.

    You drove a Ford Cortina. A BMW or Merc was an exception and a head-turner, nowadays they are as common as muck. Having a BMW/Merc no longer means what it once did

    There was such a thing as running in a new car. Modern cars don't need this.
    You could buy a car late in the year and wait until January to register it. Wouldn't get away with "for reg" anymore :D

    It was perfectly acceptable to open your front door, call over children and give them money to go the shops to get you cigarettes. Nowadays if you give children money and call them to your front door the gardaí will probably question you as some pervert. :eek:

    You could spot the poor kids in school as their books were covered in wallpaper, I was one of these.
    It was common for families to share one book between sibilings. Teachers understood so if you didn't have the book they would not shame you.
    I went to a CBS so I'd meet my sister at lunchtime and we'd swop books. Teachers knew the score, they would never call you out or put you on the spot about missing books.

    A flight to the UK cost up to two hundred punts, ridiculous money. So a holiday was a day out to Leisureland in Salthill.

    Money was tight, people could not afford heating oil so you went to bed with so many blankets you could barely move or turn over. Years later I never feel the cold.

    There was no Wikipedia or google. You went to the cabinet and got the encyclopedias for that. People sold those door to door.

    It was considered acceptable to order a phone line from Telecom Éireann and wait over six weeks to get it. Nowadays people moan about the UPC call center as if it's a big deal

    Then just as now, the Dubs were arrogant when it came to GAA football and everyone was sick of listening to them

    There was no Oxygen but by the end of the decade we got Féile and The Trip to Tipp. :cool:. It's how Michael Lowry launched his career.
    On that note politicians were crooks then as well as now. But we still voted for them, nothing changes

    And yes, throughout history, our leaders made addressed the nation and then went and broke their own rules, Haughey with his famous speech and Kenny with his high paid advisors and salary cap
    Death, taxes and our leader lie to us, it's all we can be certain of :(

    Mac the Knife became a household name :eek:

    +1

    Great post.

    Wallpaper on the school book and then later Trip to Tipp, those were the days! :)


  • #23
    Nothingbetter2d
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,037 ✭✭✭Nothingbetter2d


    this one is worse.

    in the 80's we had no jobs but we had our own currency which we devalued to allieviate some of the inflation and our banks weren't broke and never required bailouts on the scale we have now.


  • #24
    Park Royal
    Registered Users Posts: 724 ✭✭✭Park Royal


    In the eighties the Catholic Royal Priesthood had not been exposed as it has

    since.....still held a lot of sway in influencing public opinion.......

    Life wasn't too bad for those with jobs.....

    Interest rates were always a worry if they would keep going up.....

    Going to consultants for medical matters was a nightmare if you didn't have

    health cover.......one visit could cost a weeks wages......no change there

    then..


  • #25
    Logical Fallacy
    Registered Users Posts: 5,933 ✭✭✭Logical Fallacy


    As far as i am aware the 80's recession and this one are very, very different. It's also hard to apply the idea of "what worse" with regard to human suffering and difficulty.

    The amount of money involved in this recession, as regards personal and state levels of debt, is massive. But it could also be argued that the majority of the population are in a better place to actually survive it, and even those affected by our current problems are better off than they would have been in the 80's.


  • #26
    Milk & Honey
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,950 ✭✭✭Milk & Honey


    mikemac1 wrote: »
    It was considered acceptable to order a phone line from Telecom Éireann and wait over six weeks to get it. Nowadays people moan about the UPC call center as if it's a big deal

    :


    Six weeks! That would have been considered greased lightening. Albert Reynolds became minister for P & T in 1979 and promised to bring waiting times down from two or three years to six weeks. He was actually slagged off on TV as a fantasist.

    People in general were worse off in the 80s. Only 20% of school leavers in 1980 went on to third level. Graduates took jobs as cleaners. Foreign holidays were for the uber rich. The main differences are that the banks were solvent in the 80s and there was not as big an overhang of personal debt. Negative equity was a very small problem.


  • #27
    Balmed Out
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,721 ✭✭✭Balmed Out


    In the 80s
    You were strugling so you had no car, tv, phone.

    You werent struggling you had 2 tv channels one old family car, went out to dinner at communions, kids all used hand me downs that started with their cousins, all toys were re cycled through neighbourhoods etc. We were ok but the first item of clothes i had that was actually never previously owned by an elder brother or relative was a jumper i got for my younger brothers communion when I was ten.

    Theres no comparison. Theres plenty of people living on welfare that still have satelite tv's mobile phones etc etc.


  • #28
    mikemac1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,395 ✭✭✭✭mikemac1


    People rented TVs, haven't seen one of those shops in a long time but once every town had a rental place.

    Not sure were VCR's around back then, might have been early nineties

    They were horrendously expensive,over four hundred punts for one.

    If you had one you'd get requests from neighbours to record stuff and then loan it around some night

    One neighbour had a taped copy of a match and we all went to their house to watch it.
    Nowadays it's up on youtube or RTÉ player

    Xtravision threatened to fine you 25p if you didn't rewind the tape for the next customer :eek:

    As a previous poster said, nowadays even people on welfare may be struggling but they'll have a good TV, maybe a realy good one


  • #29
    crapmanjoe
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 472 ✭✭crapmanjoe


    From a purely financial point of view this one is a lot worse and will take much longer to recover from (on a personal and state level)

    I think the 80s were a worse time to be in tough because nobody had money

    I'm hoping that in 20 years when this recession is on reeling in the years we won't like as impoverished and miserable as the 80's recession folk.


  • #30
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,972 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    mikemac1 wrote: »
    People rented TVs, haven't seen one of those shops in a long time but once every town had a rental place.

    Not sure were VCR's around back then, might have been early nineties

    They were horrendously expensive,over four hundred punts for one.

    If you had one you'd get requests from neighbours to record stuff and then loan it around some night

    One neighbour had a taped copy of a match and we all went to their house to watch it.
    Nowadays it's up on youtube or RTÉ player

    Xtravision threatened to fine you 25p if you didn't rewind the tape for the next customer :eek:

    As a previous poster said, nowadays even people on welfare may be struggling but they'll have a good TV, maybe a realy good one

    This post has given me a chuckle. You swear the 19th century were being described.

    VCRs were on the market from about 1979 and yes were spectacularly expensive as they were new and made in Japan or Germany not a Chinese or Vietnamese sweatshop. On tapes I remember seeing a copy of Alien for sale in a local shop - 70 quid!


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  • #31
    Big Nasty
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,080 ✭✭✭✭Big Nasty


    The pubs were a lot busier in the 80's than they are today!:cool:


  • #32
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    The 80's were worse because no one had money. It was just grim everywhere.

    Its not as grim this time, so far. That said I think this one will have repercussions for a lot longer, probably decades.


  • #33
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    crapmanjoe wrote: »
    I'm hoping that in 20 years when this recession is on reeling in the years we won't like as impoverished and miserable as the 80's recession folk.
    Sure we'll be due another one in 20 years :D


  • #34
    mikemac1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,395 ✭✭✭✭mikemac1


    MCMLXXV wrote: »
    The pubs were a lot busier in the 80's than they are today!:cool:

    Were there any draught beers back then that are gone now?

    Or is it still the usual suspects?

    Just interested to know :)


  • #35
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    In the 80s, there was only two types of cheese in Ireland - red cheddar & Galtee Singles.

    Now we can get all types of cheeses from all over the world.

    So don't ever think of comparing the two recessions unless you want to go back to a time where we only had two types of cheese.


  • #36
    44leto
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,137 ✭✭✭44leto


    This one is much worse, there was somewhere to go in the 80s, but this one the world is still teetering on the brink and we probably haven't seen the bottom of it yet.

    Plus people worldwide are more indebted in this one then the 80s.


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  • #37
    Balmed Out
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,721 ✭✭✭Balmed Out


    Kids grumble when they have to share a room these days. In the 80s me and two brothers shared the same bed till we were four or five and two of us shared it till we were ten or eleven.


  • #38
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    starbelgrade wrote: »
    In the 80s, there was only two types of cheese in Ireland - red cheddar & Galtee Singles.

    Now we can get all types of cheeses from all over the world.

    So don't ever think of comparing the two recessions unless you want to go back to a time where we only had two types of cheese.

    Maybe you've already spotted this...
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055823749


  • #39
    Big Nasty
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,080 ✭✭✭✭Big Nasty


    mikemac1 wrote: »
    Were there any draught beers back then that are gone now?

    Or is it still the usual suspects?

    Just interested to know :)

    Harp was seen a lot more, as was McCardles and Bass. Carling was sold here then and is making a comeback now. Budweiser was introduced, Furstenberg made headway for a while and then disappeared but is now coming back in bottles. That's about all I can think of.


  • #40
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    Nearly everyone that traveled to London for work in the 80's took the boat / train, cheap flights were unheard of, People were paying in excess of £200 of which would have included a sweet, cup of tea / coffee and a complimentary copy of the Irish Times.

    In the 80's we didn't have an Irish airline company that offered flights for next to nothing.

    Could you imagine someone on the dole back in the 80's being able to afford a return trip to Paris or Barcelona out of a weeks payment. :p


  • #41
    phil1nj
    Registered Users Posts: 716 ✭✭✭phil1nj


    I was very young for the 80's recession but what I do remember from it was the fact that the price of ordinary things went up very, very quickly. The example I always use is the price of a packet of Tayto crisps which seemed to go up by 1 to 2p every few weeks (it started at about 6p and ended up at 13p in an extremly short space of time). There also appeared to be general elections every other year (political parties camped outside the local schools in battered caravans on election day trying to win voters).

    But everybody appeared to be in the same boat moneywise, very few people had telephones (where I grew up there were about 18 houses, only one had a phone up until about '88). Al lot of people rented TVs or if they purchased things it was bought "on tick" or HP from retailers (they often ended up paying twice what the item would have cost if paid for outright). Very few people went on foreign holidays (for us it was two weeks at my nans in Wicklow every year without fail for about 10 years). Having any sort of a car was considered a real luxury too. I also got hand me down clothes and had schoolbooks covered in wallpaper and shared books with my brother right through primary and seconday school. We never went without but there were rows at home about money and "grown up" stuff but my folks always made sure that there was food on the table and that the bills were paid - although I do remember having our TV service disconnected (or having the pipe turned off as it was called) for about 8 weeks one year when things got really tough.

    This recession is different though mainly because as has already been pointed out personal debt is a lot higher and people have come to expect a higher standard of living in general I think.


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  • #42
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    Run_to_da_hills wrote: »
    Could you imagine someone on the dole back in the 80's being able to afford a return trip to Paris or Barcelona out of a weeks payment. :p

    I can't imagine anyone these days on the dole being able to afford it out of a week's pay.


  • #43
    Milk & Honey
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,950 ✭✭✭Milk & Honey


    mikemac1 wrote: »
    Were there any draught beers back then that are gone now?

    Or is it still the usual suspects?

    Just interested to know :)

    Harp lager was very big in the early 80s. It was the only lager in many pubs.
    Another major social difference was connectivity. No mobile phones, skype or internet, facebook etc. When someone emigrated pen and paper was the only means of staying in touch. Air travel was expensive so visits home were rare.


  • #44
    sweetie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,795 ✭✭✭sweetie


    My family wasn't really hit badly by the recession in the 80s as far as I can remmember as we had foreign holidays when I was in primary school and i was born in '77 but my parents were sensible I think. They didn't pay for 'piped' tv and used wallpaper to cover books and always sent a packed lunch into school rather than giving us money for the shops. We had no video or phone for years either. My mam minded other kids too and worked with my dad who was self-employed. We always had a roast dinner on sundays with HB ice-cream too. It must have been worse in the cities? I can remember the price of crisps and kitkats going up and if we ever got into a pub we would share a bottle of lemonade rather than the ripoff of soft drinks nowadays. I also remember seeing' Big trouble in little china' for 70 quid in a local shop!


  • #45
    Nothingbetter2d
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,037 ✭✭✭Nothingbetter2d


    Run_to_da_hills wrote: »
    Nearly everyone that traveled to London for work in the 80's took the boat / train, cheap flights were unheard of, People were paying in excess of £200 of which would have included a sweet, cup of tea / coffee and a complimentary copy of the Irish Times.

    In the 80's we didn't have an Irish airline company that offered flights for next to nothing.

    Could you imagine someone on the dole back in the 80's being able to afford a return trip to Paris or Barcelona out of a weeks payment. :p

    try move abroad using a so called cheap airline...when u add in all the bags to carry your belongings it aint so cheap anymore.


  • #46
    Sala
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,494 ✭✭✭Sala


    I remember wallpaper covered school books - we must have been poor so! But I think this was the early 90s, my folks must have carried on the trend.

    I don't think our level of cutting back or cutting corners has reached that of the 80s yet, but then again, some things are probably relatively cheaper now than they were then, like clothes and shoes.

    My mam always says they were poor, but it didn't matter because everyone was poor


  • #47
    Run_to_da_hills
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,009 ✭✭✭✭Run_to_da_hills


    The music was much better back then but was bloody expensive too unless you taped tracks from the radio as I used to do.


  • #48
    bijapos
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,003 ✭✭✭bijapos


    Last one was way worse, less educated and going abroad was a serious unknown, I know of a girl here who got a job in Japan by emailing the CV and doing an interview on Skype. Unthinkable in the 80's.

    Most debt now is high personal debt, it didn't exist to the same extent in the 80's.


    At times I miss the innocence of the 70's and 80's, but there are parts of it I would never want back.

    Political corruption is as bad today as it was back then, the only difference is that it involves larger amounts of money today and has a better chance of being exposed via the interent.

    Duggy747 wrote: »
    At least the 80's recession had the Safety Dance
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7movKfyTBII

    Now we have a load of unemployed Health & Safety experts!
    mikemac1 wrote: »

    There was no Oxygen but by the end of the decade we got Féile and The Trip to Tipp. :cool:. It's how Michael Lowry launched his career.
    On that note politicians were crooks then as well as now. But we still voted for them, nothing changes

    There was Slane, Siamsa Cois Lee and the Grandaddy of them all LISDOONVARNA!!!!!
    mikemac1 wrote: »
    Were there any draught beers back then that are gone now?

    Or is it still the usual suspects?

    Just interested to know :)

    Harp, Tennents, Carlsberg Special Brew in bottles, Furstenberg.
    starbelgrade wrote: »
    In the 80s, there was only two types of cheese in Ireland - red cheddar & Galtee Singles.

    Don't forget Calvita and those nasty triangles.


  • #49
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    Furstenberg wow.


  • #50
    Gurgle
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,064 ✭✭✭Gurgle


    Sala wrote: »
    I remember wallpaper covered school books - we must have been poor so!
    Wallpaper?
    Only the rich kids had wallpaper to cover their books with. FFS, they were the ones whose parents actually redecorated the house.

    Brown paper bags all the way.


  • #51
    John Doe1
    Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭John Doe1


    In the 80's, everyone had moustaches and mullets, were communists and cannibalism was rife. At the least thats what i remember from the month of being alive in the 80's.:)


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