Even when I was growing up in the 80s the poorest family I knew owned their own home. It was an ancient cottage with an extension built on. The reason they were

Even when I was growing up in the 80s the poorest family I knew owned their own home. It was an ancient cottage with an extension built on. The reason they were poor was that they had 7 kids and one very low income. I remember a photo of a bunch of us, aged 11, outside the school. The kid from that family was wearing a distinctive sweater with a band name from 8 years previous. Home-knitted by his mother. It has several owners before it got to him. The band weren't even cool any more, and everybody recognized it. Someone saying "Haha! John (eldest brother) was wearing that in his school photo! Look, it's up on the wall over there!" These days, the poorest people I know have 42" TVs, smart phones and deliveroo 4 nights a week (ok, from McDonald's, but still...). But they'll never own their own homes, never have "security", and their cars are knackered. But still, compare their materialist luxury to that of my dad's childhood. Or even mine in the early 80s.