A quick Google suggests the average house price was around 3 times the average annual salary in 1970.
Today, it's more like 4.5 the average combined salary of man (35k) and a woman (30k).
In the 60s we were still in the early stages of the cult of home ownership. By 1971 the balance had shifted though and over half the population were owner occupiers, presumably thanks to those affordable house prices.
Your personal experience is quite a small sample. I'm not questioning the fact that you had to work hard and make sacrifices, but the evidence suggests it's significantly harder for young people to get on the housing ladder today. Not just "different" as you suggested.
In the 60s the average first time buyer was in their early 20s. In 2023 it's 34. Lifestyle factors play a part, but the key issue is rocketing house prices.
Average house price in 1963 was £2788 and the average annual wage for a manual worker was apparently £728. So a house was 3.6 years...
Gen Z and Millennials need to acknowledge that Boomers didn't have it all easy.
Boomers need to acknowledge that they have been advantaged in some ways by the time of their birth and the economic circumstances.
Everybody needs to acknowledge that Gen X are the real lucky ones. They grew up...
I think the avocado meme was actually first started by an Australia billionaire property magnate. It was then of course amplified:
And then of course the classic:
"Won't millennials inherit a lot of this boomer wealth?", I hear you ask. Well, yes, in many cases they will.
However, over 50% of those that haven't made it onto the property ladder have parents who also don't own their own home.