The second Elizabethan age has delivered a remarkable increase in living standards. Average incomes in 2022 — adjusted for the effects of inflation — are almost four times higher than they were when the 25-year-old Elizabeth became our sovereign in 1952. I doubt we will see quite the same gains over the next 70 years but, nevertheless, I’m optimistic there won’t be a repeat of the first Elizabethan age (from 1558 to 1603), during which there was no increase in living standards whatsoever. Indeed, we may be on the cusp of radical innovations in energy, artificial intelligence and medicine.
Over the past seven decades, we’ve come a long way. In 1952, remnants of Second World War rationing were still in place. Only 35 per cent of women were economically active in the sense that they were either in, or looking for paid work (those not in paid work were typically burdened with unpaid domestic chores). Today, more than 70 per cent of women are economically active. Fewer than four per cent of pupils leaving school went to university. Today, more than 50 per cent do so. Males born in England and Wales in 1951 would live, on average, 66 years. Male babies born today may reach the age of 80.
