Fun read, but most it didn't resonate that much with me on a personal level. In a lot of ways my childhood and my children's are similar.
In terms of freedom the big difference is with my parents childhood in the 50's - a huge amount of freedom to roam, build boats and sail them on the river, hitchhike to (high) school!! I never really roamed, though at 10 I did walk around to piano lessons and to practice at a friend's house about 1/2 mile away in a country town. By high school (back in the metro area) I rode my bike to get around, and sometimes stopped in at my friend's house (we rode to school together) but I didn't just take off. I think by 15 I did jog alone though.
My children's freedom is hampered in our current location by having to cross a four lane major road to get anywhere! But when we lived in a regional town I let the older ones walk short distances to friends or school.
My Mum was quite into the healthy food trends of the 70's and 80s = low salt, low fat, low sugar, high fibre, not overdoing protein and also influenced by travel and international students into cooking indian, chinese and middle east foods. The food emphases of this age may have hanged slightly but I'd say I'm no more (maybe slightly less) occupied with them than her. They didn't smoke and drank only occasionally.
I don't think I have any more equipment than my parents have apart from the baby capsules and I was put in a baby seat in the 70's. (I do however remember being in the boot of a station wagon or the tray of a ute at times!)
My kids don't do more extra curricular stuff than I did (I would have liked to do more, actually) and certainly seem to have lots of time to do imaginative play.
They watch more TV than I did, as we didn't have one for most of my childhood, but we try to restrict it, and screen time in general and like I did they enjoy spending time playing board games and having books read to them.
On the sleep thing that Arizaphale mentioned, my mum walked or drove us all around to get us to sleep and suggested to me that it would be a good idea if I got my children to sleep on their own. I did so, and so did everyone in my mothers group by 6 months.
As for the level of childrearing interest, my parents certainly read books on it. I found them fascinating reading myself as a child and I'd say they had at least as many as I do. They had Hugh Jolly, Penelope Leach and Florence Powdermaker as well as few others I can't remember.
So in a lot of ways mentioned in that article, I feel not that difference from them. In broader societal level, I'd say that one of the biggest change in Australia since those days is that housing isn't very affordable any more, making it very difficult to survive on one income. We have some of the most expensive housing in the world now, and I think the pressure this puts on young families must be immense.
My mother (in the earliest component of the babyboomers) say hers was the last generation to feel they didn't have to have a career (though many did have one, of course) and I certainly enjoyed her presence at home.
Oh the stuff about the phone is spot on. We didn't even have one for over a year at one point!