2015年经济学人 福利改革 睡房与碎砖

Welfare reform

Bedrooms and brickbats

The bedroom tax will probably survive

ON A sunny spring morning, a small group of protesters wait at the Department of Work and Pensions with a giant card for Iain Duncan Smith.

It is his birthday. But the card also marks a year since the introduction of the “bedroom tax”,

as opposition¹ politicians call the welfare secretary's scheme to encourage people in subsidised social housing to move to smaller properties.

“One year on and still causing misery”, it reads.

Since 2010, the coalition² has introduced plenty of changes to the welfare system.

But few are as unpopular as the bedroom tax (officially, the “removal of the spare-room subsidy”).

According to Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, it symbolises an “out-of-touch, uncaring Tory government that stands up for the privileged few”.

In February the nationalists in Scotland triumphantly³ scrapped⁴ it.

The Liberal Democrats⁵ are split by it. Yet despite the tide of anger, it will probably survive.

Before April 2013 tenants⁶ with spare rooms got enough housing benefit to cover their full rent.

Since then, they have had to pay for them themselves. On average, that means finding another 14 per week,

typically out of other welfare benefits—which are hardly generous to begin with.

The government says this is fair because people “underoccupying” their homes are preventing larger families from using the space more fully⁷.

The charge encourages tenants with spare bedrooms to downsize—or to rent them out. It is also meant to cut around 360m per year from the benefits bill.

Whether it can do so depends largely on people being able to move. So far just 6% of those affected⁸ have done, according to a BBC survey.

A high proportion live in post-industrial northern towns, where councils own plenty of 1950s and 1960s family homes but comparatively few smaller flats.

In Liverpool, for example, 24% of social tenants are affected by the policy.

In Westminster, by contrast, where there is enormous demand for housing, the figure is just 5%.

Yet the numbers of people affected is falling. When the policy came into effect last April, 560,000 households were hit.

By November, that had fallen to around 500,000. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), a charity, explains the shortfall.

Some people had found work; some had reached retirement⁹ age, whereupon the scheme no longer applies.

And more may now be moving. Mutual¹⁰ exchanges—where tenants swap¹¹ council homes with each other—appear to have taken off.

Meanwhile, some housing associations and councils are buying smaller homes and selling large ones.

Scrapping¹² the tax outright¹³ could undo¹⁴ some of these improvements.

Steve Wilcox, the author of the JRF's report, suggests tweaks that would make it work better.

Exempting¹⁵ tenants with severe disabilities, who may need a room for a carer or equipment, would help.

They currently have to apply for emergency funds from local authorities: a messy, bureaucratic¹⁶ process. So too would boosting that pot of money.

Such pragmatism will not appeal to the Labour Party.

For Mr Miliband, the bedroom tax is a helpful springboard for a wider war on welfare reform.

Yet if elected in 2015, he too will want to cut the deficit¹⁷. Tweaks might then be welcome.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

4 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

11 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

12 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

13 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

14 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

15 exempting   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• EPA adopted regulations exempting discharges from agricultural activities, with certain exceptions for relatively major pollution sources. 环境保护局采用管制规章，禁止源自农业活动的各种排放，对于一些相关的大型污染源也有例外。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

16 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

17 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。