It has been argued by many that WWII was not an economic high point in the lived experiences of most citizens. Even in America which faced almost no destruction

It has been argued by many that WWII was not an economic high point in the lived experiences of most citizens. Even in America which faced almost no destruction of its territory and infrastructure there was severe rationing of basic commodities, durables, and food. For a large number of people, the war years were a downgrade in lifestyle from even late depression standards. The economy did do well after the war, but you could also attribute that to delayed purchases as spending money on new homes, automobiles, and all sorts of goods was finally possible. This combined with a much larger labour pool as some women remained in the workforce, while many families who had delayed child-rearing started families and needed to earn and spend to support that. The post-war boom years were marked by a huge reduction of central planning and government spending. Most Keynesians at the time were actually predicting a return to deep recession because of this, and the opposite happened.