I was 17 in 1985 we moved to Wales & I remember going into the job centre & having the pick of jobs, the walls were covered in open positions. I realise now how lucky I was .
My mate said the same he was 16 in 1984 and he said you could start a job on Monday leave on a Friday and have a new job by Monday and so on and so on. Until you found one you actually liked. Crazy.
Your wrong people on some benefits are better of than people that work I'm surrounded by families on benefits there better of than me takeaways 3 times a week drinking smoking and doing very little else people couldn't find d work in the 80s there's work now 3xcuse ?¿¿
@henchdan1 What you forget is that generation started with zero monies....Everything they had to be worked for it was only later people had access to credit (not saying going into debt is good but that is what a mortgage is )so if they started off with zero money they had zero to build on..people would never dream of expecting anything new to start up with...if you got a pack of tea towels and a toaster as a wedding gift you thought you'd done well. Benifits were extremely low, too..Most people didn't have a car and going on holiday was a dream for the majority of people.. so I think that average wage has been exaggerated ...
Well behaved kids. Good father & mother, getting the basics right. Help should always be there for those who are unable to work through no fault of their own.
Watching this is 2024 and, I can't quite believe it, but I met Tony's granddad several times. I even went to his 100th birthday party. Thank God for UA-cam.
My wife and I were in the same position in 1985, our concrete council maisonette was cold and suffered terrible damp. And today many young families can't even get a council home, we've got back instead of forward. Shameful.
What a good mother Julie was, advocating for her son and not giving up, under such difficult circumstances. The Housing Dept should have just let them stay in the other unit, had a heart about it all. I hope life turned out wonderful for she and her son. It was so touching at the end when her little baby grabbed her face and made her look at him when she was crying, he stared into her eyes to give her strength and as if to say “it’s ok Mum, I love you, we’re going to be ok!” How absolutely precious, and a perfect example of Gods love.
Lovely son, I hope he's happy now. The father, how dare those snobs say he's a scrounger,walking miles for food as cheap as possible. People this day and age don't appreciate tax credits,child benefit and income support. I was one of those kids,mum was a beautiful ,kind great mother but dad was seriously ill with schizophrenia and left my brother and I when I was 3 and brother was 8. I thought my poor mum was underestimating when she said 30 pounds a week for 2 kids and herself. All her multiple sisters married well and had middle class lives,we never got a Xmas or a card except for my dear family in Bradford and my one uncle . No hand me downs from their expensive clothes. I don't count them as aunt's. My father's family were kept far as my mum hadn't spoken since my dad left. I remember,cold house,hardly any clothes but always fed and when clothing grant for school clothes came it was the only good clothes we had. I remember my mum struggling for tights and even having just one bra. I love my mum for this. She's comfortable now after a little inheritance. Nothing lasts forever. Clean clothes,bed,food and love is the most important things. I cherish my furniture and the comfortable house I made for myself, every day.
Very well said Margaret..I had a similar upbringing in Ireland when my beloved Father got a massive heart attack...tough times indeed....but we came through....
@@bouncingbluesoul5270Me too, she was in pure dire circumstances and makes me wonder how well her parents were living...if better then she could be at home with them
@@marklola12 Something tells me they were unhappy with her choice of partner who had obviously run off. The child is mixed race, and in those days, sleeping around made people look down on you big time.
That poor young girl with her baby. When she cried and cuddled in to him at the thought of anything happening to him, I cried too. As a mum, I felt so much empathy. Really heartbreaking. I hope things worked out for them.
Props to the first guy. If I was hiring, I'd be more likely to hire someone knocking on the door than someone that's been foreced to enquire about vacancies because the job centre made them as a tick box exercise.
I used to work at the DHSS from 1999 to 2004. The prevailing attitude amongst the staff was to give out the absolute least amount of money possible, and People applying for benefits were treated with suspicion and contempt by the staff.
Still like that today. Starmer wants banks to spy on their benefit "customers" accounts and report back. Meanwhile tax dodgers, despite costing the country more, get continued freedom.
@@tilerman no, but I can tell from your attitude, you were one of the bully boys shouting his mouth off at the staff, ONLY if they were female though, Yes? 🤣🤣. Take a hike !
@@TheTacticalHaggisyou men are despicable. It’s the man who holds the greater responsibility here. He had NO RIGHT sleeping with her outside of marriage, then getting her pregnant and then abandoning her and their son. What a loser he must have been. Much like yourself.
I've looked after my frail Dad for 15 years. The NHS nearly killed him through sheer neglect. There is no safety net. Everyone needs to watch out for themselves and their families because honestly, we are one our own. Completely.
Your absolutely right! My father was in hospital four months before he passed and the level of care was disgusting! But it was not only my dad but a ward of upto 50 elderly people left on their own to look after themselves at meal times etc. Most couldn't even hold a spoon but most nurses left them to be. They became desensitised to human life. I went in everyday and helped fed my father till he was discharged.
Emma you are soooo Correct!! This is why its so important to take care of our health, as much as possible. Because you DONT want to end up in a nursing home or whatev....We are fundamentally ALONE! Peace S
You should have had plenty of help from the social. Home help district nurse etc. good for you. Thank god you are there for them not many would do that.
Its mind blowing that this was made in 1985 (39 years ago). It has hardly dated at all. Most of what you see, how they talk, hairstyles, fasions, motor cars, all still look modern. 40 years before 1985 would be 1945 that would be towards the end of WWII where people had no TVs, cars had outside mudguards, everyone had the same hairstyles, people listened to Glen Miller on the wireless, flying around in Spitfires and Lancaster bombers! That's just shear crazy!
@@brianorakpohitnah. Socialists. Those entitled brain washed doctors are literally there for their salaries. For themselves, and for their families. Which is normal. That's what we all do. Communism works within the family unit and to some extent small communities. But not large scale healthcare. It's a failed Ideology.
No way is it as bad as the time in the video, you have no idea, the system may not be perfect today but it's not as bad as what the people in this video were facing, be grateful you live in this time!
My goodness people seemed tougher back then, well spoken too. I was born in 1996 and I think I’ve had a very easy life all things considered. My heart really goes out to that young mother, I wonder how she is now?
@@galaxianx01 I know what you mean. Flats were up for sale for around £41,000 in that year. I was looking to buy , but it didn’t come about for some reason
@@jennawalden8547 That was a lot of money then for a flat. In Leeds I was looking at houses, ok small terraces, for £5k and £6k. We looked at a 3 bedroomed terrace through house on a nice street for £17k and I thought that was a lot.
And now we've turned full circle and the country is back to the 70's ,I know exactly how Tony felt having the same sort of life ,I never watched this when it was innitially shown ,its as if time has not moved on and that the past 50 years plus havev counted for nothing .
I was about 7 in 1985, and I remember the '80s clearly. It felt bleak, growing up with my mum, sister, and brother, relying on benefits. Life wasn’t enjoyable at all, and if you walk down certain streets today, you can see the same struggles happening again. Anyone who thinks people are better off now is delusional. Yes, people might have more technology, but in some ways, it makes life harder. Back then, there was no internet or Instagram constantly showing you how other people live. While technology has improved some things, it’s also made life worse in other ways. I don't think people back then were too focused on buying houses; they were just trying to get through the grind of everyday life. Survival was the main priority, not long-term investments like homeownership.
@samantha4130 thank you for your comment Even though I have a lot of nostalgia for that time, I’m not sure why. Life was pretty bleak overall, but a few memories, like Christmases and things I saw in shops, still come back to me. It was a different time, long gone, and probably meaningless to anyone else, but for some reason, it still brings back faint memories of a grey, difficult period in my life. Maybe it was The Troubles living in Northern Ireland I remember my mums bag searched for bombs when she used to go into the shopping centres in Belfast.
This is absolutely heart breaking. I felt so much sadness watching this. It makes me feel even worse that nothing much has really changed in 2024 and doesn’t look like they are much improving 😓 why do we live in this world. Someone that can actually make a difference SHOULD DO SOMETHING!
You are also their son.. Wow what a wonderful son.... He will make a wonderful nurse, and have his reward.... My sisters and i nursed our mum with ms. If we had had a brother, he would've been just as caring.... Id love to know what became of this this chap
@@susanlaird5154 it’s actually even worse because that feeling of your neighbours trying to suss you out and feeling like some scum to them is the worse feeling in the world to the point you don’t want to be seen and then don’t leave the house. The government have acted disgracefully. I’m not against the idea of getting money back in those cases it’s been claimed fraudulently, but in my opinion this is not something that should be a political issue that is spread all over the media. It’s a political weapon and claimants are just treated like numbers not human beings in distress of one sort or another or many.
The interviewer talking with the girl with the baby near to the end was a real cold fish ..he showed no empathy or sympathy towards her. Por girl l hope she got on well in her life in the end.
I thought his dad was bed ridden yet hes fully dressed stood all ok at the top of the stairs and a miracle when son left his mothers health miraculously got better where they cope all ok without him.... miraculous
@@ThatAngloSaxonBloke A little increase in prosperity could go a long way back then I think, and people were more community minded. If you're poor now you're staying poor.
Jumble sales were a thing!! My Mam always dragged me there to one. I’m 46 now and my elderly parents are now very comfortable due to Dad’s private pensions. But I remember the struggle. Once Mam cried as she walked us to school as she didn’t have 12p to give me for a packet of crisps from the tuck shop. Times were tough.
I've been through all this, alcoholism, depression, thoughts of suicide. But suicide isn't fair on your family, imagine the effect it would have on them.
@@linzieloo1 Great question but I would have to say YES actually. You will suffer and sacrifice for your kids no matter how great or otherwise your life goes anyway.
One of the best jobs Ive ever had (Regional Projects Manager) came from knocking on doors. I really hope that Tony went on to succeed and find happpiness. He was a solid nice guy
I had a rotten life but I still prefer those days to now. High prices, constant rules and regulations, lgbtqdhkhgg, Trans idiots, tyrant government, ridiculous laws, horrible people,Give me the 80s anytime, rose coloured glasses and all😢
@@MiWriconstant rules and regulations ??? Did you not hear at the end of the programme some poor kid ran over in the tip ?! Thank god for rules and regulations the 80s were tough times and had the highest suicide rates ever mid to late 80s…. That was for a reason. So much more help available today. It’s not the 80s people miss it’s their youth
@@rude2870 thank you! People with fond memories of the 70-80s particularly and who trash life today were usually in their youth so cushioned from the harsh realities of that era by being kids and just having the luxury of being g able to experience all the good cool stuff like the music, clubbing and TV shows back then.
I will always be grateful for the childhood and home my parents gave me, I cannot imagine the life of despair these people suffered, I hope they and their kids are all in better places in this day and age.
Born in '91, so have no concept of how hard life could have been for people of this time. You can really feel their pain in this documentary, it pulls at my heart in a way I didn't think possible.
@@MrSpliffy3 With the way things are going, you're probably right. Bought about 7-8 items to feed my family breakfast the other morning and came to some £11-12. It's just madness.
@@DaRkPlUmroll with the punches mate. Don't let it get to you. But the futures not looking too good. At 36 I qualified in a trade. Ive never looked back. Any trade. Any. And your family will thrive.
I cried a little for her too, she seems such a nice, caring mum, and I don't blame her for moving flats. Her and her little one have no need to be cold.
@@musicfan2511it's so heartbreaking 💔 I had the same reaction I have 4 boys now men that poor girl she's only 18 ... All I can say she's an amazing loving her baby against the odds 😢 xx
Tough documentary to watch .Such tv couldn't be made today.Especially the young mother squatting in the flat across the way then getting a warning from the Social not to do it again.
Surly Tony’s mum could try and do a bit more for herself and tell her son to go and live his life. .He is literally saying he was going to kill himself and the first thing his mum said was “I still haven’t got over it” it was all about her! Even if I had no legs I’d tell my son to go and live his own life! The dad is there for gods sake, surely there’s enough of them to all help out in order the son to go!
You obviously have no empathy or campassion or the basic knowledge of mental health and its effects on people. In your small world im sure everyonr fits neatly into the little boxrs you create for them..and anyone you consider to be outside of your insular world view you blame them..point the finger and belittle them, and cast them aside as human trash. Hopefully as you mature in life, you will be more compasdionate and understanding, it sounds like you have a long way to go, but i have faith you will get to a happier place one day.
@@Totallyunderrated-1 I just know people. And some people are very happy to let you continue running around after them. You.. on the other hand sound incredibly preachy and naive.
How much would Lab Con like this kind of thing back, they hate us. The post war consensus is well and truly over. Anyone having kids nowadays without very careful consideration must be crazy.
Pretty depressing. Poverty is relative but most people today in UK and Ireland don’t realise how easy they have it. Take a young persons smartphone away and they can’t at all.
I do think the mother was relying on the son too much. She did have time to put make up though. In this documentary it says after the son left, his mothers health improved.
Omg what can you say ...so shocking ..they had a much harder stance then I think ..I hope than they have now ..I hope he found his dream Tony ..I hope Laurence has grown up well and everyone turned out ok x
The aspiring actor was called Tony Evans and it looks like he was successful in attending Weber Douglas Drama School. Does anyone know what became of him? He’ll be ~56 now.
Im 18 and my close friend has a baby on the way and the council has stuck her in a hotel room and said she could be there for 2 years. shes due in December and i worry about how she will cope. Its 2024 and its only getting worse.
Absolutely hear Tony and can relate on so many levels. I've a adult son who suffers from bouts of depression and mental illness. We have to like kick and scream for mental health to take us seriously and the wrap around support is virtually non existent. When he has his episodes which have resulted in hospital ED they just bloody send him home with no backup or any assistance to help with extra support. You almost have result to been bitch just to get them to listen. As a mum 55yr they just send him back home expecting family to cope
Hi Carolyn, I've had terrible bouts of severe depression. No antidepressants ever worked for me. However, I had ketamine therapy. It worked really well. It helps about 70% of people who are not helped by other medications. It might help your son.
Life is still the same hasn't changed with the benefits I go to Farmfoods & Tesco's & just buy there own brands the other week I applied for a Foodbank & they wouldn't give me it as they wanted me to apply for a chrises grant first so I did & they granted me £60 to do me the month I'm still waiting on hearing from my Adult Disability benefits coming thru so yeah at the moment it's just Universal credit I get as I wasn't told I was entitled to these benefits so fingers crossed I get even the low Rate
@@DonnellOkafor-r2d yeah I was working as a doorman for past 6 years but I suffer from extreme paranoid psychosis schyzophrenia and had to pack my job in & ended up in a psychiatric hospital for 8 months I wish I could work but not at the moment sorry
I’m a consultant engineer and worked all over Europe the last 20 years. I’ve often said to my European colleagues that Britain was a shit hole for much of the 80s. They didn’t believe what I told them about the grinding poverty, 3 million+ unemployed and racist society in the 1980s. Most of them really had this vision of Britain as the height of financial, social and cultural sophistication. They had no idea how bad it was for the masses. For me it was the incredible innovative music, the fashions and club culture that took me into fantasy land for a few hours every week even if it meant spending nearly every wretched penny of my DSS benefit. It was a hard time, everything really felt like it was in the lap of the Gods.
Bad attitude. You're basically using that premise to disguise fecklessness. Not everyone who is in hard times is feckless. But not everyone who is doing OK or well is doing so because they are lucky or spoilt by well off families. I'm only 45 but some of the jobs and hours I've had to do to get by in the past and make things better for myself were bloody tough and seemed endless at the time.
I hear what you're saying, which is more so true regarding families back then. However watching the end of the documentary, when Tony left and both parents seem to of managed by themselves without any outside help had me thinking 🧐🤔🤫......@Pumpanddump-o6v
I remember this one!!!
I was 17 in 1985 we moved to Wales & I remember going into the job centre & having the pick of jobs, the walls were covered in open positions. I realise now how lucky I was .
My mate said the same he was 16 in 1984 and he said you could start a job on Monday leave on a Friday and have a new job by Monday and so on and so on. Until you found one you actually liked. Crazy.
Really?!! Not in my area it wasn't. 1984... there were no jobs for 16 year old's. Life was dire.
@@SuzyF-df4iw yeah was just gonna say… weren’t like this in west bloody Yorkshire any part of the 80’s 😂
I was 17 in 1984 @matthewjdouglas6471and it was the same here in Essex and Lincolnshire.
@@SuzyF-df4iwTrue
The sad thing is we now sit here in 2024, and nothing much has changed.
And you know what the other sad thing is? There are people today who think the people from that generation had it good 😢 They have no idea 😢
Your wrong people on some benefits are better of than people that work I'm surrounded by families on benefits there better of than me takeaways 3 times a week drinking smoking and doing very little else people couldn't find d work in the 80s there's work now 3xcuse ?¿¿
I work 6 days and struggle nowts changed
They had it better. Average salary in 1985 was 14k per year, average house cost was 28-30k. At least they could afford houses back then. @@juliejr
@henchdan1 What you forget is that generation started with zero monies....Everything they had to be worked for it was only later people had access to credit (not saying going into debt is good but that is what a mortgage is )so if they started off with zero money they had zero to build on..people would never dream of expecting anything new to start up with...if you got a pack of tea towels and a toaster as a wedding gift you thought you'd done well. Benifits were extremely low, too..Most people didn't have a car and going on holiday was a dream for the majority of people.. so I think that average wage has been exaggerated ...
Well behaved kids. Good father & mother, getting the basics right. Help should always be there for those who are unable to work through no fault of their own.
Nothing has changed in 2024!
👏
@@matthewperry848 There are many parents nowadays who are bone idle and ignorant. They put their children in these situations sadly.
Tony is such a credit to his family. They should have had so much more support.
Tony, I sincerely hope you found happiness in your life.
Watching this is 2024 and, I can't quite believe it, but I met Tony's granddad several times. I even went to his 100th birthday party. Thank God for UA-cam.
What happened to tony
I’m desperate to know also!
what the f*ck has a god got to do with you tube?
Tony would be 58 now.. the passage of time
My wife and I were in the same position in 1985, our concrete council maisonette was cold and suffered terrible damp. And today many young families can't even get a council home, we've got back instead of forward. Shameful.
many young families can't even get a council home unless they just rocked up on a dinghy - FYP
Many more hungry mouths and the country is even poorer
and how many blacks and browns were in the UK in 1985, ma'am?
@@TheTacticalHaggis not many
Import the 3rd world become the 3rd world.
What a good mother Julie was, advocating for her son and not giving up, under such difficult circumstances. The Housing Dept should have just let them stay in the other unit, had a heart about it all. I hope life turned out wonderful for she and her son. It was so touching at the end when her little baby grabbed her face and made her look at him when she was crying, he stared into her eyes to give her strength and as if to say “it’s ok Mum, I love you, we’re going to be ok!” How absolutely precious, and a perfect example of Gods love.
Lovely son, I hope he's happy now. The father, how dare those snobs say he's a scrounger,walking miles for food as cheap as possible. People this day and age don't appreciate tax credits,child benefit and income support. I was one of those kids,mum was a beautiful ,kind great mother but dad was seriously ill with schizophrenia and left my brother and I when I was 3 and brother was 8. I thought my poor mum was underestimating when she said 30 pounds a week for 2 kids and herself. All her multiple sisters married well and had middle class lives,we never got a Xmas or a card except for my dear family in Bradford and my one uncle . No hand me downs from their expensive clothes. I don't count them as aunt's. My father's family were kept far as my mum hadn't spoken since my dad left. I remember,cold house,hardly any clothes but always fed and when clothing grant for school clothes came it was the only good clothes we had. I remember my mum struggling for tights and even having just one bra. I love my mum for this. She's comfortable now after a little inheritance. Nothing lasts forever. Clean clothes,bed,food and love is the most important things. I cherish my furniture and the comfortable house I made for myself, every day.
@MargaretMccafferty,bless your lovely Mother,your comment made me tear up.
You had a wonderful mother. All the best.
Very well said Margaret..I had a similar upbringing in Ireland when my beloved Father got a massive heart attack...tough times indeed....but we came through....
Yes I agree, he was doing the best for his children, times were hard in the 80s, remember "Boys from the Blackstuff"?
Why couldn't your mother work?
I found Julie and Lawrence on Facebook. Both look to be happy and doing good.
I wonder if they have ever seen this clip.
I've tried looking for Julie. Which one is she ?
Julie is now Ali-G’s woman
Look up Lawrence as it's easier and then she is tagged in a photo @@bouncingbluesoul5270
God bless them
Tony is an angel. Extraordinary human being.
Any updates on any of these families now? I hope Tony had a good life.
I want to know what happened to Julie, the young girl with the son.
@@bouncingbluesoul5270 yes me too
@@bouncingbluesoul5270Me too, she was in pure dire circumstances and makes me wonder how well her parents were living...if better then she could be at home with them
@@marklola12 Something tells me they were unhappy with her choice of partner who had obviously run off. The child is mixed race, and in those days, sleeping around made people look down on you big time.
She's on Facebook
That poor young girl with her baby. When she cried and cuddled in to him at the thought of anything happening to him, I cried too. As a mum, I felt so much empathy. Really heartbreaking. I hope things worked out for them.
I know, poor love. She’s just a baby herself, where were her family to help her bless her. I wonder where she is now and her son?
Should have had a child within marriage and financial stability
@@DonnellOkafor-r2d Exactly
@@jeffsimon9594 expecting the taxpayers to support her and her son? Smh
@@Boo_175 family? Where was the father?
Props to the first guy. If I was hiring, I'd be more likely to hire someone knocking on the door than someone that's been foreced to enquire about vacancies because the job centre made them as a tick box exercise.
I like Glen what a great dad and man. I hope things worked out well for him and his family.
That man glen was such a good dad and really tried his best. I hope life improved for them all.
And yet the Royal family live in the same county with such extravagance. So very wrong
I used to work at the DHSS from 1999 to 2004. The prevailing attitude amongst the staff was to give out the absolute least amount of money possible, and People applying for benefits were treated with suspicion and contempt by the staff.
Still like that today. Starmer wants banks to spy on their benefit "customers" accounts and report back. Meanwhile tax dodgers, despite costing the country more, get continued freedom.
Oh definitely. While the lazy Socialists collected their salaries and pension
The baby boomer generations make me so angry. As a cohort they are narcissistic.
So you had the same attitude, yes?
@@tilerman no, but I can tell from your attitude, you were one of the bully boys shouting his mouth off at the staff, ONLY if they were female though, Yes? 🤣🤣. Take a hike !
broke my heart when the young mum cried holding her son
crying involves tears which she did not display
Should go back in time, Scotty.
Tell her not to take creampies unless she's intending to be a mother.- it wasn't an accident.
@@TheTacticalHaggisyou men are despicable. It’s the man who holds the greater responsibility here. He had NO RIGHT sleeping with her outside of marriage, then getting her pregnant and then abandoning her and their son. What a loser he must have been. Much like yourself.
@@TheTacticalHaggistell men to keep it in their pants if they don't wanna be a father, it's a two person thing don't be such a jerk.
I feel bad for Tony and hope he had a good life
He should have started selling blow . In 1988 to 1996 l sold everything at the raves . I used the money to build multiple businesses 😊
I've looked after my frail Dad for 15 years. The NHS nearly killed him through sheer neglect. There is no safety net. Everyone needs to watch out for themselves and their families because honestly, we are one our own. Completely.
Your absolutely right! My father was in hospital four months before he passed and the level of care was disgusting! But it was not only my dad but a ward of upto 50 elderly people left on their own to look after themselves at meal times etc. Most couldn't even hold a spoon but most nurses left them to be. They became desensitised to human life. I went in everyday and helped fed my father till he was discharged.
Emma you are soooo Correct!! This is why its so important to take care of our health, as much as possible. Because you DONT want to end up in a nursing home or whatev....We are fundamentally ALONE! Peace S
Tony was 18 but could pass as 30. I hope he got a break later in life.
You should have had plenty of help from the social. Home help district nurse etc. good for you. Thank god you are there for them not many would do that.
Its mind blowing that this was made in 1985 (39 years ago). It has hardly dated at all. Most of what you see, how they talk, hairstyles, fasions, motor cars, all still look modern. 40 years before 1985 would be 1945 that would be towards the end of WWII where people had no TVs, cars had outside mudguards, everyone had the same hairstyles, people listened to Glen Miller on the wireless, flying around in Spitfires and Lancaster bombers! That's just shear crazy!
We are back in the 1980's now with regards to lack of food, money, basic essentials. the nhs is worse than it was in the 1980s 😞
Thanks to the Conservatives, yes.
Oh I'll second that the NHS are the No Help Society. Out of control Socialist Monster
@@brianorakpohitnah. Socialists. Those entitled brain washed doctors are literally there for their salaries. For themselves, and for their families. Which is normal. That's what we all do. Communism works within the family unit and to some extent small communities. But not large scale healthcare. It's a failed Ideology.
No way is it as bad as the time in the video, you have no idea, the system may not be perfect today but it's not as bad as what the people in this video were facing, be grateful you live in this time!
@@JohnHaigh09 "you have no idea" I do, I lived through it. And I'm disabled.
Real sad fact is the only thing that’s changed is fashion haircuts and prices
My goodness people seemed tougher back then, well spoken too. I was born in 1996 and I think I’ve had a very easy life all things considered. My heart really goes out to that young mother, I wonder how she is now?
I remember this time. I was 18 in 1986. I went for my first flat and turned it down. Had keys to another within 3 days. Imagine that today.
@@galaxianx01 I know what you mean. Flats were up for sale for around £41,000 in that year. I was looking to buy , but it didn’t come about for some reason
@@jennawalden8547 That was a lot of money then for a flat. In Leeds I was looking at houses, ok small terraces, for £5k and £6k. We looked at a 3 bedroomed terrace through house on a nice street for £17k and I thought that was a lot.
@ wow! I’ll bet they would cost a fortune now !
And now we've turned full circle and the country is back to the 70's ,I know exactly how Tony felt having the same sort of life ,I never watched this when it was innitially shown ,its as if time has not moved on and that the past 50 years plus havev counted for nothing .
I was about 7 in 1985, and I remember the '80s clearly. It felt bleak, growing up with my mum, sister, and brother, relying on benefits. Life wasn’t enjoyable at all, and if you walk down certain streets today, you can see the same struggles happening again. Anyone who thinks people are better off now is delusional. Yes, people might have more technology, but in some ways, it makes life harder. Back then, there was no internet or Instagram constantly showing you how other people live. While technology has improved some things, it’s also made life worse in other ways.
I don't think people back then were too focused on buying houses; they were just trying to get through the grind of everyday life. Survival was the main priority, not long-term investments like homeownership.
46 here and remember the struggle in this time all too well..
@samantha4130 thank you for your comment Even though I have a lot of nostalgia for that time, I’m not sure why. Life was pretty bleak overall, but a few memories, like Christmases and things I saw in shops, still come back to me. It was a different time, long gone, and probably meaningless to anyone else, but for some reason, it still brings back faint memories of a grey, difficult period in my life. Maybe it was The Troubles living in Northern Ireland I remember my mums bag searched for bombs when she used to go into the shopping centres in Belfast.
The fact that this is not only still commonplace, but is getting worse, gives me no hope for the future.
This is absolutely heart breaking. I felt so much sadness watching this. It makes me feel even worse that nothing much has really changed in 2024 and doesn’t look like they are much improving 😓 why do we live in this world. Someone that can actually make a difference SHOULD DO SOMETHING!
@@lucyii do what? Ppl that don't work don't deserve to live as good as ppl who do
Guess what the only logical response is to your final statement.
Hope the dad from Bradford found a job, hes a good dad, frugle bloke
You are also their son..
Wow what a wonderful son....
He will make a wonderful nurse, and have his reward....
My sisters and i nursed our mum with ms. If we had had a brother, he would've been just as caring....
Id love to know what became of this this chap
Things have improved since the eighties,we now have food banks…
Thank god. Things are just as bad for some.
Walk a mile in their shoes. Scrougers my ass. Who ever says that must be living a good life. Shame on you for saying that
What a big leap that is only took 40yrs😂
As long as the elite can stuff their bank accounts and live the good life all is well with the world…
@@susanlaird5154 it’s actually even worse because that feeling of your neighbours trying to suss you out and feeling like some scum to them is the worse feeling in the world to the point you don’t want to be seen and then don’t leave the house. The government have acted disgracefully. I’m not against the idea of getting money back in those cases it’s been claimed fraudulently, but in my opinion this is not something that should be a political issue that is spread all over the media. It’s a political weapon and claimants are just treated like numbers not human beings in distress of one sort or another or many.
What a gem of a video
The interviewer talking with the girl with the baby near to the end was a real cold fish ..he showed no empathy or sympathy towards her.
Por girl l hope she got on well in her life in the end.
I’m sure Glen’s children grew up to have successful lives. They seem like a very organised and disciplined family despite being poor.
I thought his dad was bed ridden yet hes fully dressed stood all ok at the top of the stairs and a miracle when son left his mothers health miraculously got better where they cope all ok without him.... miraculous
His dad looks very ill to me!
Dad looks OK to me I bet the mom wasn't that ill either poor lad
It was a Christmas miracle! 😂
I think I mistook the mother for the dad.
@@susanlaird5154 🤣
I felt such joy when he got accepted for the drama school.
Thank you for posting this. Heartbreaking.
I really want an update on Julie & Lawrence.
He would be 40 now
Almost
They were hard times back in the early to mid 80s, but I'd trade anything to go back there from where we are now.
Why, out of interest?
@@ericwright8498 I felt much more at home during that time period. Modern day UK depresses me.
@@ThatAngloSaxonBloke A little increase in prosperity could go a long way back then I think, and people were more community minded. If you're poor now you're staying poor.
@@ThatAngloSaxonBloke if you wernt back then now at your current age you might well be dead! life expectancy has improved tenfold since...
Heartbreaking to see her cry when she said if anything happened to her kid!
I wonder what became of them, sat here watching this nearly 40 years into the future....they must be in their sixties by now if they're still with us
Tony and Julie will both be 57 now. I wonder what they are up to these days? I hope life was kinder to them in the years after this
Would like to no😊
@@Truerealism747 same here
Me too ❤
Nothing really changed it’s been the same from day one it’s crazy how the government have got away with this makes me very sad watching this
Well said.
Jumble sales were a thing!! My Mam always dragged me there to one. I’m 46 now and my elderly parents are now very comfortable due to Dad’s private pensions. But I remember the struggle. Once Mam cried as she walked us to school as she didn’t have 12p to give me for a packet of crisps from the tuck shop.
Times were tough.
Same here, I basically grew up in the late 80s and early 90s only wearing jumble sale and charity shop clothes!
Jumble sales we're the best
I've been through all this, alcoholism, depression, thoughts of suicide. But suicide isn't fair on your family, imagine the effect it would have on them.
I know but if you are suffering so much should you have to live for others?
@@linzieloo1agreed.
@@linzieloo1 Great question but I would have to say YES actually. You will suffer and sacrifice for your kids no matter how great or otherwise your life goes anyway.
One of the best jobs Ive ever had (Regional Projects Manager) came from knocking on doors. I really hope that Tony went on to succeed and find happpiness. He was a solid nice guy
This is why I get annoyed when people look back on anything earlier than the 2000s with rose tinted glasses
I had a rotten life but I still prefer those days to now. High prices, constant rules and regulations, lgbtqdhkhgg, Trans idiots, tyrant government, ridiculous laws, horrible people,Give me the 80s anytime, rose coloured glasses and all😢
@@MiWriconstant rules and regulations ??? Did you not hear at the end of the programme some poor kid ran over in the tip ?!
Thank god for rules and regulations the 80s were tough times and had the highest suicide rates ever mid to late 80s…. That was for a reason. So much more help available today. It’s not the 80s people miss it’s their youth
@@rude2870 thank you! People with fond memories of the 70-80s particularly and who trash life today were usually in their youth so cushioned from the harsh realities of that era by being kids and just having the luxury of being g able to experience all the good cool stuff like the music, clubbing and TV shows back then.
They were kids back then, not in the real world.
council didnt give a fuck about the young girl and baby ,, sad
@@Winnipeg2024landlords are doggy
@Winnipeg2024 where was the father
Where's the father? Why get pregnant when you're in this situation?
Just think how much worse it was each decade earlier going back it got worse and worse.
@@DonnellOkafor-r2d
Are you on drugs 😂
now there is even less support and no new council housing just unaffordable
I will always be grateful for the childhood and home my parents gave me, I cannot imagine the life of despair these people suffered, I hope they and their kids are all in better places in this day and age.
I remember the 70's you finished school on a Friday and start work on Monday I worked 40 hours for £17.50 we weren't rich but we were happy.
what a lovely man Tony
Born in '91, so have no concept of how hard life could have been for people of this time. You can really feel their pain in this documentary, it pulls at my heart in a way I didn't think possible.
Your time is just around the corner pal. Hold tight
@@MrSpliffy3 With the way things are going, you're probably right. Bought about 7-8 items to feed my family breakfast the other morning and came to some £11-12. It's just madness.
@@DaRkPlUmroll with the punches mate. Don't let it get to you. But the futures not looking too good. At 36 I qualified in a trade. Ive never looked back. Any trade. Any. And your family will thrive.
Neally 40 years later nothing has changed , it's heartbreaking 😢
I got out in 1986 and came to Australia, best move i ever made.
NZ 84
Oh poor sweetheart crying with her baby 😢
As a mum of a four month old baby boy, I cried with her! So heartbreaking. I really hope things worked out for them
I cried a little for her too, she seems such a nice, caring mum, and I don't blame her for moving flats. Her and her little one have no need to be cold.
Absolutely heart breaking 💔 poor angel but what an amazing mum ❤️ true love for her boy xxxx
@@musicfan2511it's so heartbreaking 💔 I had the same reaction I have 4 boys now men that poor girl she's only 18 ... All I can say she's an amazing loving her baby against the odds 😢 xx
The little lad knew his mom was upset bless him
It's very sad to see people living in those conditions through no fault of there own I hope things went better for them in later years
Having children is their fault
Tough documentary to watch .Such tv couldn't be made today.Especially the young mother squatting in the flat across the way then getting a warning from the Social not to do it again.
Oh my, I remember a good jumble sale back then.
Surly Tony’s mum could try and do a bit more for herself and tell her son to go and live his life. .He is literally saying he was going to kill himself and the first thing his mum said was “I still haven’t got over it” it was all about her! Even if I had no legs I’d tell my son to go and live his own life! The dad is there for gods sake, surely there’s enough of them to all help out in order the son to go!
You obviously have no empathy or campassion or the basic knowledge of mental health and its effects on people. In your small world im sure everyonr fits neatly into the little boxrs you create for them..and anyone you consider to be outside of your insular world view you blame them..point the finger and belittle them, and cast them aside as human trash. Hopefully as you mature in life, you will be more compasdionate and understanding, it sounds like you have a long way to go, but i have faith you will get to a happier place one day.
@@Totallyunderrated-1are you saying the son ought to sacrifice his whole life to take care of his parents?
@@Totallyunderrated-1 you have absolutely no idea what your talking about!
Pretentious pants👍
@@Totallyunderrated-1 you obviously have no idea what your talking about!
Pretentious pants!
@@Totallyunderrated-1 I just know people. And some people are very happy to let you continue running around after them.
You.. on the other hand sound incredibly preachy and naive.
How much would Lab Con like this kind of thing back, they hate us. The post war consensus is well and truly over. Anyone having kids nowadays without very careful consideration must be crazy.
Pretty depressing. Poverty is relative but most people today in UK and Ireland don’t realise how easy they have it.
Take a young persons smartphone away and they can’t at all.
I do think the mother was relying on the son too much. She did have time to put make up though. In this documentary it says after the son left, his mothers health improved.
Omg what can you say ...so shocking ..they had a much harder stance then I think ..I hope than they have now ..I hope he found his dream Tony ..I hope Laurence has grown up well and everyone turned out ok x
my father used go out and buy himself the best of clothes while we could barely make ends meet. Some of these people deserved better
The aspiring actor was called Tony Evans and it looks like he was successful in attending Weber Douglas Drama School. Does anyone know what became of him? He’ll be ~56 now.
I hope these lovely souls life’s improved ❤
How much money was sent aboard in these times
We let our own human beings suffer
Recently I read that 30 billion was spent on housing and sending illegal immigrants back to other countries😱
@@Winnipeg2024where did you read that? And what country are you from?
I mean their basic needs were met, shelter, clothing, food. At what standard of living is the government supposed to support people?
@Winnipeg2024 Allow me a guess. Was that in the Mail or on Facebook?
@@tinyarmada the people are the government
So why do we send billions aboard .
So why should we accommodate their needs .
I grew up in 70s and 80s as a kid I remember the poverty me and my mates went through but unbelievable it’s happening again
And inflicted by a 'Labour' govt too. No different to the other wing of the Uniparty. I hope voters have learned their lesson.
As a bradfordian i wonder how glenn and his family got on through the years
I wonder whereabouts in Bradford they lived?
I hope they are all doing well, they are good decent people and have lots of potential
Just absolutely heartbreaking stuff.
I wish I k new how all these people are doing, now. Especially the young mother and little boy. I hope they're OK.🩷
And it just got worse and worse and here we are...
Today...oct 24
Immigrants gon replace you 😂😂😂😂😂
Im 18 and my close friend has a baby on the way and the council has stuck her in a hotel room and said she could be there for 2 years. shes due in December and i worry about how she will cope. Its 2024 and its only getting worse.
She chose to have the kid so she can support the thing and not rely on the taxpayers
Better a hotel room than the street..
@sr7791 yes she has worked all her pregnancy
@MickeyGee73 true but it's not a good place to be
The joys of Thatcherism.
Absolutely hear Tony and can relate on so many levels. I've a adult son who suffers from bouts of depression and mental illness. We have to like kick and scream for mental health to take us seriously and the wrap around support is virtually non existent. When he has his episodes which have resulted in hospital ED they just bloody send him home with no backup or any assistance to help with extra support. You almost have result to been bitch just to get them to listen. As a mum 55yr they just send him back home expecting family to cope
Hi Carolyn, I've had terrible bouts of severe depression. No antidepressants ever worked for me. However, I had ketamine therapy. It worked really well. It helps about 70% of people who are not helped by other medications. It might help your son.
@@betteroptionsnow1701 Thanks for that and I'll look it up as I'm not sure what ketamine therapy is. ♥️♥️
How things have stayed the same shame really
Life is still the same hasn't changed with the benefits I go to Farmfoods & Tesco's & just buy there own brands the other week I applied for a Foodbank & they wouldn't give me it as they wanted me to apply for a chrises grant first so I did & they granted me £60 to do me the month I'm still waiting on hearing from my Adult Disability benefits coming thru so yeah at the moment it's just Universal credit I get as I wasn't told I was entitled to these benefits so fingers crossed I get even the low Rate
Don't you work?
@@DonnellOkafor-r2d yeah I was working as a doorman for past 6 years but I suffer from extreme paranoid psychosis schyzophrenia and had to pack my job in & ended up in a psychiatric hospital for 8 months I wish I could work but not at the moment sorry
I felt from them all any updates on the girl with the baby and tony and the man .. on the dole ..
I’m a consultant engineer and worked all over Europe the last 20 years. I’ve often said to my European colleagues that Britain was a shit hole for much of the 80s. They didn’t believe what I told them about the grinding poverty, 3 million+ unemployed and racist society in the 1980s. Most of them really had this vision of Britain as the height of financial, social and cultural sophistication. They had no idea how bad it was for the masses. For me it was the incredible innovative music, the fashions and club culture that took me into fantasy land for a few hours every week even if it meant spending nearly every wretched penny of my DSS benefit. It was a hard time, everything really felt like it was in the lap of the Gods.
This was the beginning of the end for the UK and when i started looking for a way out.
Emmigrated in 1993.
Sad to see Home as it is now 2024
Lucky you could do that. Not many get the opportunity, it simply isn’t practical for 99% of people.
..there is literally an alien in this footage 0:29 ! Also this is heartbreaking
Well spotted
It's a Gilgameshian, from the planet Zokalanda. He came to see for himself, the destruction that Margaret Thatcher had wrought on the country.
unless ur really lucky skilled and have affluent supportive family u are pretty much pre-destined to be poor and miserable 😐
Bad attitude. You're basically using that premise to disguise fecklessness. Not everyone who is in hard times is feckless. But not everyone who is doing OK or well is doing so because they are lucky or spoilt by well off families. I'm only 45 but some of the jobs and hours I've had to do to get by in the past and make things better for myself were bloody tough and seemed endless at the time.
Thatcher didnt look after the North back then.
Nobody looked after the North NEVER
The north has been forgotten by every party ever since. We're just seen as a burden on the south.
We are back in 85 now
Nothing like 85.🙄
Way more help now. The suicide rates mid to late 80s were horrific which says it all
Laughable. Rose tinted glasses. Was always tough times for the Working classes
Imagine “bus fare” a luxury 😔
Hard times indeed.....
Nothing wrong with beans and fish fingers
I loved fish fingers, chips and beans as a kid - that was a wholesome and tasty meal, covered in salt and vinegar ❤
Chips, beans and fish fingers were a staple. A good day we might get a fried egg with it. I couldn't eat it every day though...
Fish fingers have got quite expensive these days..I used to love a fish finger and tartare sauce sandwich!
the young girl 18 gets 32 quid a week that is worth 97 quid now but 18 year olds only get 37 quid a week now how bad is that
Any update on Julie Goodard ?
She’s on Facebook, appears to have had another son and a few grandchildren.
If anyone finds out how julie and tony are now, I'd love to know.❤
19:35 cool 1980s jumper
1980s just like 2024😮
I felt bad for Tony, and that his parents are taking advantage of him 🧐🤔😕🙁....
I hear what you're saying, which is more so true regarding families back then. However watching the end of the documentary, when Tony left and both parents seem to of managed by themselves without any outside help had me thinking 🧐🤔🤫......@Pumpanddump-o6v
I feel the same. They were quite happy to steal his best years from him so that they didn't have to push themselves. Really hope he made it somehow