Do You Remember 1972 and the £10 Christmas Bonus

Broadstairs has had its fair share of famous residents. Perhaps none of its celebrity residents are more famous than Edward Heath, who was the Prime Minister between 1970 and1974. I guess it all depends on how you measure fame, but let’s face it there have not been that many Prime Ministers – the current incumbent of the office is number 53, if we start counting from Robert Walpole – so for a small town to have had one of its residents become Prime Minister is no little achievement.

The Heath government will be remembered for many things and you'll be relieved to know that I'm going to mention only one of them. One that many people forget about. Did you know that it was the Heath government in 1972 that introduced the £10 Christmas bonus for people on certain benefits? Over forty years later, it is still being paid "before Christmas... to people who get certain benefits in the qualifying week. This is normally the first full week of December."

Back in 1972, a £10 payment really was something to shout about. As Ruth Jackson from Moneywise explains: "It was worth £98 in today's money and was considerably more than the £6.75 a week basic state pension that pensioners of the time received." Imagine that: a Christmas present from the government that is almost 1.5 times the amount of the basic weekly state pension. Not bad at all.

In 1972, a dozen eggs cost about 25p - we were still talking about new pence in those days, though - petrol was about 8p a litre - but we bought it in gallons - and you could go to the cinema for about 30p - but there'd be a choice of just one screen.

By now you're probably thinking that things simply could not get any better: well you'd be wrong. That Christmas, not only did some people get a bonus but we could all enjoy this classic Christmas number one:

Christmas day fell on a Monday that year. These were the days when there were just three television stations. On Christmas evening on BBC1 you could watch:

5.55pm  Bruce Forsyth and the Generation Game

  6.55pm  Christmas Night with the Stars,
               
  8.15pm  The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show

  9.15pm  Film : Barefoot in the Park (1967)  starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda

11.00pm  The Good Old Days 1953-1973

Bring back a few more memories of Christmas television gone by here.

If you're one of those people who got a £10 bonus this year, why not raise a glass to Ted, listen to Little Jimmy and and look out for any repeats of Morecambe and Wise.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.