People Raised In The 70s & 80s Miss 8 Specific Things About The Times They Grew Up In
Photo Editor: Sabrina James | Photo: Masson, Canva Pro Most people hopefully have at least some good memories from their childhood, but Gen X, who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, might have a claim to one of the most special times to be a kid in all of history.
Now that those days are firmly behind them, nostalgia often makes them yearn for the slower, simpler life they used to know. And out of all the many, many things they miss, these seem to stand out the most.
8 specific things people raised in the 70s and 80s miss most about the times they grew up in
1. Spending what felt like unlimited time with everyone they loved
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No one likes to look around at the people they love and think about the fact that there will be a day when they would do anything for just a few more minutes with them. Still, that’s the reality everyone has to face at some point.
It might sound simple, but many people who grew up in the 70s and 80s miss the feeling of being with all of their loved ones more than anything else. Now that some of them are gone, all they have left are memories of the time they thought would never end. Their grief has become a part of their life just like those people once were.
2. Never wondering if something was real or AI-generated
During the 70s and 80s, no one had to worry about confirming the things they saw on social media were real and not created with AI. That whole concept would have sounded like something from a sci-fi movie to them.
There are plenty of people who would point out all the benefits of AI, but psychologists are seriously concerned about how it’s changing the way we think and feel. It makes you wonder if it’s really worth the minor convenience it brings.
Gen X was lucky enough to grow up well before the age of AI, and, honestly, a lot of them wouldn’t mind going back to that time.
3. Most people tended to mind their own business
Every era has its fair share of busybodies, but something seemed different when Gen Xers were growing up. For the most part, people just worried about themselves and didn’t insert themselves into other people’s lives.
Maybe that’s because social media has made it so much easier to keep an eye on everyone and to spread gossip quickly, or maybe people really did have a different perspective back then. Whatever the reason was, most people were happier and healthier for it, and they usually didn’t feel like they were stretched quite so thin either.
4. Talking to real customer service representatives
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These days, more and more companies have an AI assistant that tries to answer customers’ questions when they call. But even before that, people had to beg the automated system that answered calls to transfer them to a live representative.
Some problems can’t be solved without talking to another person. That was never a problem in the 70s and 80s, when live customer service agents were the standard. It’s probably just a coincidence that everyone felt like they got much better help then, too.
5. Enjoying nature before it seemed like all the land left in the country was developed
Gen Xers typically say they played outside more than today’s kids do, which could be due to the fact that there were more places to play available. Now it seems like it’s just a matter of time before every green space left is sold to the highest bidder.
The American Farm Bureau Federation reported that the amount of farmland has decreased since 1982. Meanwhile, land that was developed during the same time could make up the size of Nebraska.
There are so many health benefits that come from spending time in nature, but people aren’t getting them now unless they’re really intentional about it. Stepping outside to breathe in fresh air is a thing of the past in a lot of places.
6. There was a true middle class, not just rich and poor
It seems like the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening every day as more and more people become billionaires, or even trillionaires, while the rest are left to struggle. But there wasn’t always just two sides to the story. Back in the 70s and 80s, many families fell comfortably into the middle class. They weren’t wealthy, but they weren’t constantly worried about money either.
The middle class feels like it’s been shrinking for decades now because the people who were already making the most money are the ones who have seen the biggest income increases. It’s created a society that’s divided more sharply along economic lines than ever before.
7. Not having constant access to the news
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Young people will probably have a hard time picturing a time when people couldn’t check the news whenever they wanted, but it was real. The 24-hour news cycle didn’t exist until CNN started airing in 1980, and new technology has made the headlines even more inescapable.
It’s nice to be able to find out what’s happening in the world at any time, but there are downsides. Being constantly bombarded by news coverage harms people’s mental health since most of it is pretty alarming. There’s also the issue of not getting to choose when you’re exposed to the news anymore. It’s not as simple as just turning the TV off now. A lot of Gen Xers miss the days when they didn’t have to deal with that.
8. People seemed genuinely optimistic about the future
The world has never been perfect, but people seem to react to problems differently now than they did in the 70s and 80s. Instead of thinking about what they can do to make things better, most people take a pretty negative view.
Just a few decades ago, people had a real sense of hope. They believed that the future would be better, and that the next generation would know how to fix what they couldn’t. Research has shown that that kind of optimism lowers stress levels and makes it easier to face challenges. Some people might think it’s ridiculous, but it really does change lives for the better.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
