经济学人279:政府与老人 老人的黄金时代

 　　The elderly and the state

　　政府与老人

　　Golden oldies

　　老人的黄金时代

　　The government makes rich pensioners¹ richer still

　　政府让原本富有的退休老人越来越富有

　　BRITAIN'S pensioners are a cosseted² lot. Since 2011 their state pensions have been protected by the “triple lock”, which ensures they rise along with prices, earnings³ or 2.5%, whichever is higher. Perks⁴ for the old such as free TV licences and bus passes and an annual winter handout⁵ to help with heating have all survived austerity. Government bonds paying well above the market rate of interest have just been made available exclusively to those aged⁶ 65 and over. Is all this generosity⁷ justified⁸?

　　英国的退休老人可谓是集万千宠爱于一身。从2011年开始，国家养老金就受到“三重保护”，保证养老金随物价、收益上涨或者二者之中最高者的2.5%的利率上涨。给老人们的其他福利，比如免费电视许可、巴士通行证以及每年发放的保暖健康手册在财政紧缩的当下统统保留了下来。领先市场利率的养老金债券在不久前也是仅仅提供给65岁以上的人群。所有的这些福利都是公平合理的吗？

　　英国政府与老人.jpg

　　Pensioners are poorer than working-age people—almost all have incomes below the national average. But they are treated better by the state. For any given private income, retirees' equivalised disposable income—that is, money available to spend after the deduction⁹ of taxes and payment of benefits, and adjusted to account for household size—is higher than that of younger people (see chart 1).

　　退休老人的收入低于正在工作的人们——大多数老人只能拿到低于国家平均工资水平的退休金。但是国家更优待他们。对于任何有固定收入的个人，退休人员的可支配收入——在交税和支付福利后并按照家庭收入比例作出调整的可支配金额——比年轻人的收入要高得多（见表1）。

　　The state pension, currently worth about ￡6,000 (around $9,000) a year, accounts for much of the discrepancy¹⁰. It is often seen as a reward for past contributions, not as a pure benefit, but this is dubious¹¹: pensions are funded by today's taxpayers¹². Even if pensions are counted as private income, the richest pensioners still do well from the state (see chart 2). They do not pay national insurance (a tax levied¹³ only on earned income) on their private pensions, leaving more money for cruises and conservatories¹⁴.

　　国家养老金，目前每人每年为6000英镑（约9000美元），是造成这些差异的主要原因。退休金被看做是对过去对社会贡献的回报，而不是单纯的福利，但是这似乎很矛盾：养老金是由现在的纳税人缴纳的。即使养老金被视作个人收入，最富裕的退休老人依然从国家得到了许多好处（见表2）。他们不需要为自己的养老金支付国民保险（仅针对自营收入征收的税种），这样就有了更多的钱去旅游和听音乐会。

　　On January 27th, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, David Cameron promised that a future Conservative government would remove housing benefit from 18- to 21-year-olds—a group that suffers from higher-than-average unemployment and already receives less generous welfare payments. Meanwhile, the silver-haired who will benefit most from the government's new bonds are those who can afford to stash¹⁵ away the full ￡20,000 limit—more than a year's income for most pensioners. It's a good time to be rich and old.

　　1月27日，在接受《每日电讯报》的采访时，卡梅伦承诺未来的保守党政府将会减掉18至20岁群体的住房补贴，这个群体有着高于平均水平的失业率并且得到较少的福利补贴。同时，那些从政府的新债券中获利颇多的老人，能够存下2万英镑限额之内的金额—这比大多数老人年退休金还要多。这是老年人致富的黄金时代。

1 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

2 cosseted   

v.宠爱，娇养，纵容( cosset的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Our kind of travel is definitely not suitable for people who expect to be cosseted. 我们的这种旅行绝对不适合那些想要受到百般呵护的人。 来自辞典例句
• We are, by astronomical standards, a pampered, cosseted, cherished group of creatures. 按照天文标准，我们是一群受宠过头、珍爱有余、呵护备至的受造物。 来自互联网

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 perks   

额外津贴，附带福利，外快( perk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perks offered by the firm include a car and free health insurance. 公司给予的额外待遇包括一辆汽车和免费健康保险。
• Are there any perks that go with your job? 你的工作有什么津贴吗？

5 handout   

n.散发的文字材料；救济品

参考例句：

• I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
• His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

8 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

9 deduction   

n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎

参考例句：

• No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
• His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。

10 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

11 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

12 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

13 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。

14 conservatories   

n.（培植植物的）温室，暖房( conservatory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Conservatories have grown in popularity over the past 10 years. 过去10年，温室越来越受到欢迎。 来自互联网
• FEBRI ELEMENT offers Offers to Railing systems, Aluminium elements and Conservatories. 是一家现代化、得信赖的产品供应商，该供应商从事栏杆，护栏系统，梯式支座装置、式支座装置，钢梯的制造和销售。 来自互联网

15 stash   

v.藏或贮存于一秘密处所；n.隐藏处

参考例句：

• Stash away both what you lost and gained,for life continues on.将得失深藏心底吧，为了那未来的生活。
• That's supposed to be in our private stash.这是我的私人珍藏。