How the cost of living has changed in the last 100 years

Updated
Cost of living comparison
Cost of living comparison



In recent years the cost of living has been increasing and young people living in 2016 are unlikely to ever reach the wealth levels enjoyed by their parents' generation, but are you aware how much things have changed in price over the last 100 years?

WizzCash have taken a comparative look at the cost of living through the ages, producing some interesting results.

For example, take a look at the life of the 'Swing Generation'. This accounts for those born anytime between the mid 1920s to early 1940s.

At this time average life expectancy was just 59.5 years for women and 52.9 years for men.This is astonishing when you compare it with the average life expectancy of a Millenial (those born between 1980 and 2000) which is 80 years.

But that's not the only shocking statistic, the average house price for a member of the Swing Generation was £3,660 - this equates to around £66,322 in today's money.

Millenials hoping to invest in their own home will have to save for a very long time considering that the average house price these days has sky rocketed to £277,000, more than four times as much.

An average disposable income in for the Swing Generation was £5,323 whereas a Millenial can expect to receive around £13,980.

But these aren't the only factors to remember when comparing cost of living.

It's important to remember that in the 1920s to 1940s a university education was free of charge, annual tuition fees of £1,000 were only introduced in 1998.

Since then they have gone up even further as it was announced in 2012 that students would have to pay £9,000 a year in tuition.

So how does the cost of living affect people now? You can take a look at the full breakdown of cost of living from the Swing Generation right through to modern day Millenials with WizzCash online here.

The High Cost of Living Longer
The High Cost of Living Longer

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