5 better, 5 worse from when you were a child

I forgot to add:

Better: warm clothing

Worse: number of obese people

Another better:
A lightweight continental quilt/duvet on the bed that doesn't weigh us down but keeps us warm.

It rather depends when "the past" was! We have chosen 1950s and this is our list.

Better then
1/ Park keepers
2/Public transport (pre-Beeching)
3/ NHS not overloaded
4/ Recorded music (78s anyone?)
5/Affordable housing

Worse then:
1/ Smoking everywhere
2/ Choice of food in shops and restaurants
3/ No internet or smartphones
4/ Lack of respect for children - corporal punishment and rude questions
5/Racism, Sexism, homophobia etc.

Better
Doctors visited sick children at home and nurses learned on the job
Playing outside with friends all day primary age
Flats and bedsits plentiful to rent
Lots of job vacancies
Houses for sale much less in price relative to salary then
Worse
Shops landlords barred certain ethnic groups often with a notice on shop doors
Disabled access to places virtually unheard of
Many medical treatments not yet been invented
Women mostly expected to stay at home and be a good housewife
Smog killed many people

Am too young to know about the 50’s as I was born in the 60’s so my list is really 70’s.
Better:
Knowing all the neighbours and kids in the street
Not worrying about global warming
Good educational standards
Good clean NHS hospitals and seeing your GP easily
NHS dentistry

Worse: the opposites of all on the Better list.

Some posts like this really get on my nerves. In the past children were free to play where they wanted and be safe …. Brady and Hindley put a stop to that. Music was better . Was it? Are we referring to The Beatles.? We’ve come a long way since the Fab Four. Medicine ? When I was a child, polio’, TB, measles, scarlet fever, and much more were part of life, not newsworthy . Giant strides have been made to eradicate diseases that ruined lives. Our existence now is so much more comfortable and effortless and for those who take advantage of the opportunities affording to them, life is sweet . However, ; and I haven’t read all contributions to this thread so forgive me if I’m repeating ) television is far inferior to what it used to be. The Wednesday Play, Family at War, Elizabeth R, as opposed to Love Island, Eastenders , I’m a Celeb. And politicians !!! Neil Oliver describes our present gang as sock puppets or a waste of skin. If you compare them - and there is no comparison really, to Churchill, Bevin, Braddock, Castle, Benn- you’ll agree that Mr. Oliver is right.

Better
Discipline in schools
People talked to each other, greater freedom of speech
A much lower population
Quality of most products
You knew your neighbours

Worse
Not so easy to travel
Lack of central heating
Cookers you had to light with a match
Lack of proper news (unless local)
All bathing in the same water

Definitely too many tattoos on girls, and too many pouty botoxed lips, and those drawn on eyebrows. Just be natural - far more attractive!

Better

lots of buses
walk-in doctor surgery
education and class behaviour
post office savings encouragement
good community

worse
fog and smog
thick dense indoor air from smokers
dentist hence mouths full of metal
no quick resource for information
no use by dates on fresh food eg cream

Just an aside -my last filling which had to be updated was put in in the mid 1950s .I told the dentist it was an antique filling and he should treasure it! Now they are white and look like your teeth, much nicer than those mercury things.

Better:
1. Being able to call in a doctor
2. Sending a lot of personal letters as postage was so cheap
3. Air travel was pleasant with no security checks beyond your ticket
4. Better discipline in schools - admittedly a threat of corporal punishment helped enforce it
5. social mobility due to grants for university education

Worse then:
1. Cars very prone to breakdown and wouldn’t start in cold weather
2. Houses very cold in winter
3. Hotels much more basic - private bathrooms only in very luxurious places like the Ritz
4. Fewer labour saving devices like automatic washing machines
5. Discrimination against women generally - in some jobs you had to resign on marriage

To add to previous post, I keep thinking of more and more things that used to be better.
Department stores! In the fifties and sixties they were very luxurious and real treasure houses, exciting places to visit.
Now, they are either closed or very shabby.

Wish I'd thought of this thread!
Worse: *Living by IT rules rather than commonsense & human judgement
*Vast range of choice over what to cook for tea
*Nagging guilt about the planet whenever you splurge on anything
*family ties seem to be "optional" & "conditional" now whereas they were one thing you could depend on when I was young
* no LOL comedy on TV anymore

Better:
* relative lack of stigma now for unmarried mothers, decision not to have children, same sex relationships
*available medical care overall
*less people killed on roads
*as a deaf person, the wonderful tech that allows me to be part of the hearing world & enjoy music, when I would be "stone-deaf" with the hearing aids of 1961 when I was born
* we have maybe realised that all progress isn't good progress and have become a bit more discriminating about what we're aiming for??

Worse in the 60s:
Lack of central heating
Poor career opportunities for women and girls
Page 3!!!!!
Black and white tv
Clothing fabrics (Bri-nylon, Crimplene, etc…!)

Better in the 60s:
Children playing outside
Grammar schools
Steam trains
No freakish beauty treatments
Better nutrition, less obesity from fast food, just the local chippy! 😎