50p at 50: how Britons' living costs have changed since 1969
The 50p coin entered circulation on 14 October 1969, in the run-up to D-Day on 15 February 1971, when the UK finally abandoned shillings and pence and moved to a decimal currency.
The 50p coin was worth a lot then – indeed, more than any coin in circulation now. In real terms it was worth the equivalent of just over £8. Fifty years on, especially after rampaging inflation in the 1970s, the 50p is a shadow of its former self – it has shrunk in size and weight, but above all in value.
But what do these figures mean in real terms? Inflation since 1969 has been an astonishing ## %, with the fast-rising “cost of living” already a major headache for the government at the end of the 1960s.
What is extraordinary about the wages data from the late 1960s is the huge gap between men and women. The ONS New Earnings Survey for 1970 shows that the average full-time male worker was paid £30 a week, while a female full-time worker earned just £16.30. Annually, that worked out at £ ## for men, which is equal to £24,050 today, but only £ ## for women, equal to £ ## today.
A look through the Guardian’s classified job adverts on the day the 50p was launched gives a snapshot of what real jobs paid. The Open University, which had just been established, was hiring professors at £3,780 a year (equal to £ ## today), lecturers on a range of £ ## to £ ## (£20,153-£47,147), and secretaries on £ ## -£1,068 (£12,506-£ ##).
The Open University is still hiring – and its adverts suggest that real pay for academics has barely edged ahead in 50 years. It currently has an advert for a professor of economics on a range of £67,700-£75,800, while it pays lecturers £33,000 to £49,000. But the secretary job pays lots more in today’s money, with the OU advertising a role at £23,000 to £26,000.
Questions:
Work out the numbers that have been replaced by ## symbols.
What is the real-terms increase of salary for Professors, Lecturers and Secretaries (using the top of the pay scale each time)?
Answers:
Inflation since 1969 has been an astonishing 1,554%
The ONS New Earnings Survey for 1970 shows that the average full-time male worker was paid £30 a week, while a female full-time worker earned just £16.30. Annually, that worked out at £1,560 for men, which is equal to £24,050 today, but only £847.60 for women, equal to £13,068 today.
The Open University, which had just been established, was hiring professors at £3,780 a year (equal to £62,532 today), lecturers on a range of £1,240 to £2,850 (£20,153-£47,147), and secretaries on £756-£1,068 (£12,506-£17,668).
- Professors: an increase of 21.2%
- Lecturers: increase of 3.9%
- Secretaries: increase of 47.2%
