Why Boomers Had It Easier in the UK: The Numbers
House price ratios were 3.5x earnings in the 1970s. They are 8-9x today. The honest comparison is harder for both camps in the row to accept than either of them lets on.
UK house price-to-earnings ratio by decade
Source: ONS / Nationwide HPI. London and the South East run 12-15x in 2024.
Key takeaways
Yes, on most economic measures the post-war Baby Boomer generation in the UK had a structurally easier path to middle-class stability than younger generations face today.
House price-to-earnings ratios were 3-4x in the 1970s-1990s. They are now 8-12x in much of the UK. Single biggest difference between then and now.
Boomers also benefited from defined benefit pensions, free or grant-funded university, more secure employment, and decades of asset price inflation.
Caveats matter: 1970s inflation was brutal, the 1980s industrial collapse devastated many regions, and not all boomers became wealthy. But the structural opportunity set was wider for that generation than the one being offered now.