[smash]

Originally Posted by mike65

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

Or you know, you can go abroad and work legally.

[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?

[Run_to_da_hills]

Originally Posted by smash

Or you know, you can go abroad and work legally.

Not an option for those that don't fit the criteria.

[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.

[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

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.

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. . 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

[DoesNotCompute]

Originally Posted by MidlandsM

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.

[newport2]

Originally Posted by 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

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.

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. . 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

+1

Great post.

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

[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.

[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..

[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.

[Milk & Honey]

Originally Posted by mikemac1

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.

[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.

[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

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

[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.

[mike65]

Originally Posted by 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

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!