Past Recessions - what were your experiences?

bristol_pilot

I just remembered a couple of things from the depths of the last recession.

1. there was a job available in the local high street bakery, behind the counter selling cakes etc., minimum wage. Applicants were required to have two A-levels at grade B or above (this was when A-levels were still only taken by a small fraction of the population and a B meant something).

2. there was a knock on my door one saturday morning, it was the local solicitor who was going door-to-door attempting to drum up business - did I need a will? did I have any spare change? (last one made up, but you get the picture)

StevieJ

bristol_pilot wrote: »

I just remembered a couple of things from the depths of the last recession.

1. there was a job available in the local high street bakery, behind the counter selling cakes etc., minimum wage. Applicants were required to have two A-levels at grade B or above (this was when A-levels were still only taken by a small fraction of the population and a B meant something).

2. there was a knock on my door one saturday morning, it was the local solicitor who was going door-to-door attempting to drum up business - did I need a will? did I have any spare change? (last one made up, but you get the picture)

You are not suggesting that todays degrees are not quite 'A' level are you?

bristol_pilot

lol, today the cake shop would require a degree to be sure

LydiaJ

I remember finishing university in 1990. I was going on to a post-graduate qualification but all my friends had loads of job offers and could pick and choose.

I also remember finishing the full-time and funded bit of my post-graduate degree in 1993 and starting to look for jobs. It was totally different and there was nothing out there. I applied to lots of places including the R&D department of a telecommunications firm. They interviewed me and said they liked the look of me but wouldn't have any vacancies for 6 months. By the time the 6 months had passed, the people who had interviewed me had all been made redundant.

I remember my brother getting married in 1991. He sold his flat fairly easily, although at a bit of a loss IIRC. His wife's flat was in negative equity and they took ages to get rid of it.

This recession does feel worse to me. Possibly because I'm more aware of the news than I was when I was a student. Possibly because the run on Northern Rock and the failure of several big household name companies feels like a bigger deal than anything I remember from the early 90s.

clobber_2

If we're on musical themes, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2oXzrnti4 always makes me shiver - reminds me of the complete poverty of ambition that goes with mass unemployment. Sod all to look forward to apart from getting in a fight on Saturday night.

martinman3

I should remind everyone of the recession that never was, in the UK anyway.

It was caused by the dot com crash from 2000 to 2002 during which time stock markets tumbled. The UK was in a credit boom with HPI and was reasonably well insulated from it but there was one very visible effect at the time.

Advertising budgets were drastically cut and there were periods on some of the commercial TV channels when there were no adverts at all just trailers.
This recession may see ITV being cut back to a shadow of its former self. That is ITV3 and ITV4 may disappear if they lose advertising.

Now move forward to the present day. Has anyone noticed how many public information films are being shown on Channel Five ?

steadysaver

lovethymini wrote: »

As we seem to be entering into another recession, I am interested to hear anyone's stories from past periods of recession in the uk.

In particular, how you felt about it at the time, and how you feel about it in hindsight, as this may be helpful for us today.

I feel this is going to be a bad one, and feel concerned for the future, as I expect many of us do.

I was a teenager during the last recession, so I don't have much to judge the current situation against, although I do remember one year Dad telling us that the Christmas turkey was actually a pigeon as it was so small!!!

I think the worst the last recession got for me was a weekly spelling test in year 6. Not much help I know. Still at least my maths was pretty much on the ball.

geoffky

PasturesNew wrote: »

Back in the early 80s, anybody remember the band UB40? UB40 was the dole form you filled in. The song was "1 in 10", words "I am a 1 in 10 ..." because 10% were unemployed.

http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=ub40+1+in+10&search_type=&aq=f

The band were all unemployed.

Lyrics

I am a one in ten
A number on a list
I am a one in ten
Even though I don`t exist
Nobody Knows me
Even though I`m always there
A statistic, a reminder
Of a world that doesn`t care
My arms enfold the dole queue
Malnutrition dulls my hair
My eyes are black and lifeless
With an underprivileged stare
I`m the beggar on the corner
Will no-one spare a dime?
I`m the child that never learns to read
Cause no-one spared the time
(Chorus)
I`m the murderer and the victim
The licence with the gun
I`m a sad and bruised old lady
In an ally in a slum
I`m a middle aged businessman
With chronic heart disease
I`m another teenaged suicide
In a street that has no trees
(Chorus)
I`m a starving third world mother
A refugee without a home
I`m a house wife hooked on Valium
I`m a Pensioner alone
I`m a cancer ridden spectre
Covering the earth
I`m another hungry baby

from the album signing off and it was just a enlarged signing on yellow form you used to take to the dole office to sign on......tyler is guilty from the album is a classic

drbeat

bristol_pilot wrote: »

I just remembered a couple of things from the depths of the last recession.

1. there was a job available in the local high street bakery, behind the counter selling cakes etc., minimum wage.

There was no minimum wage in those days.

drbeat

StevieJ wrote: »

Oh yes, those were the days of the infamous Milk Snatcher :eek:

And 30 years on we now enjoy the infamous Purse Snatcher. :rotfl: