I once asked my grandmother how she felt when the second world war ended. “Devastated,” she said. The American soldiers left her English town before she was old enough to date them “and their uniforms were far sexier.” Her childhood stories often revolve around working in the family café or sprinting to the bomb shelter. No wonder her generation thinks children today have it easy.

In some ways, they do. My nephew in Brooklyn obsesses over “rumpy” (his word for rugby) and “soccer” (football, apparently), not falling bombs. For decades living standards rose steadily; children grew up healthier and better educated than ever. But that progress is stalling, as our recent Graphic Detail on living standards shows.

I sometimes wonder what my future grandchildren will ask about this era. Unlike my grandmother, at least I’ll be able to tell them I married a Yank.