Moving out of Benefits Street

搬出福利街

British attitudes to welfare have undergone a quiet revolution

英國人對福利的態(tài)度經(jīng)歷了一場悄無聲息的革命

Fears about benefit fiddling are at their lowest level in three decades

對福利造假的擔(dān)憂降至30年來的最低水平

Jul 13th 2019

“FAIRNESS”, DECLARED George Osborne, the then chancellor, in 2012, is “about being fair to the person who leaves home every morning to go out to work and sees their neighbour still asleep, living a life on benefits.” Newspapers printed story after story about welfare fraudsters pinching from the public purse, from the woman with two Samoyed dogs who collected thousands of pounds a month and claimed, “It’s not worth my while working,” to the man who collected disability benefit while competing in bodybuilding contests. In 2014 one in ten Britons tuned in to “Benefits Street”, a documentary which featured welfare recipients drinking and fighting on rubbish-strewn streets.

2012年時(shí)任英國財(cái)政大臣喬治?奧斯本(George Osborne)宣稱，“公平”是“對那些每天早上出門去上班，卻看到鄰居還在睡覺、靠救濟(jì)金生活的人公平”。報(bào)紙上刊登了一篇又一篇關(guān)于福利詐騙者盜用公款的報(bào)道，從一個(gè)月領(lǐng)著數(shù)千英鎊養(yǎng)著兩只薩摩耶犬的女人，到一個(gè)領(lǐng)取殘疾人補(bǔ)助金卻還一邊參加健美比賽的男人，她都說:“這一切，不值得在他們盜取福利的同時(shí)，我卻在辛苦工作?！?014年，十分之一的英國人收看了“福利街”，這是一部紀(jì)錄片，講述的是領(lǐng)取福利的人在垃圾滿地的街道上飲酒斗毆。

詞匯

Chancellor/（英）大臣

Fraudster/騙子；詐騙犯

Back then it felt impossible to be too mean to benefit claimants. They were a political pi?ata: whack them and votes fell out. When in 2013 the opposition Labour Party opposed a bill that would have resulted in three years of real-terms benefit cuts, the Conservatives responded with an advert that read: “Today Labour are voting to increase benefits by more than workers’ wages.” In the run-up to the general election in 2015, Mr Osborne promised ￡12bn ($18bn) of cuts to welfare. Voters rewarded his party with a majority.

當(dāng)時(shí)，人們覺得不可能太吝嗇而不讓領(lǐng)取救濟(jì)金者受益。他們是政治皮納塔:重?fù)羲麄?，選票就會(huì)掉出來。2013年，當(dāng)反對黨工黨(Labour Party)反對一項(xiàng)將導(dǎo)致3年實(shí)際福利削減的法案時(shí)，保守黨的回應(yīng)是打出了一則廣告:“如今，工黨正在投票決定，將福利增加幅度超過工人工資?！痹?015年大選前夕，奧斯本承諾削減120億英鎊(合180億美元)的福利。選民們以多數(shù)票支持他的政黨。

詞匯

Claimant/索賠人；英式英語有（因失業(yè)等）領(lǐng)取救濟(jì)金者的含義

Pi?ata/彩色禮品包（內(nèi)裝玩具和糖果，美國西班牙語社群兒童聚會(huì)玩游戲時(shí)蒙眼用小棍戳破）

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But the political pi?ata is no longer paying out. These days 56% of people think that cutting benefits “would damage too many people’s lives”—the highest figure since 2001 (see chart). Fears about benefit fiddling are at their lowest level in three decades. Concern over the extent of poverty, however, is rising, according to the latest edition of the British Social Attitudes Survey, published on July 11th. Voters no longer complain about “scroungers” during focus groups, say pollsters. TV programmes are more likely to focus on the botched roll-out of universal credit, a big welfare reform, than they are on the undeserving poor. Newspapers carry many fewer stories than they used to about skivers (see chart), instead running sympathetic profiles of people forced to use food banks.

但政治皮納塔已不再奏效。如今，56%的人認(rèn)為削減福利“會(huì)損害太多人的生活”——這是自2001年以來的最高數(shù)字(見圖表)。對福利造假的擔(dān)憂降至30年來的最低水平。然而，根據(jù)7月11日發(fā)布的最新一期英國社會(huì)態(tài)度調(diào)查，人們對貧困程度的擔(dān)憂正在上升。民意測驗(yàn)專家表示，選民不再在焦點(diǎn)小組討論中抱怨“乞討者”。電視節(jié)目更有可能把焦點(diǎn)放在糟糕的普及信貸(一項(xiàng)重大的福利改革)的推出上，而不是放在不值得關(guān)注的窮人身上。報(bào)紙上關(guān)于逃避工作的人的報(bào)道比以前少了很多(見圖表)，取而代之的是對被迫依靠食物銀行的人進(jìn)行同情的描述。

詞匯

Scrounger/乞討者；行乞者

Pollster/民意調(diào)查人

Botche/搞砸的

Skiver/英國俚語，指一貫逃避責(zé)任或工作的人

The shift has many causes. One is economic. The working-age employment rate has risen to an all-time high, so in Mr Osborne’s terms there are fewer people still snoozing as their neighbours begin their morning commute. Wages are also growing at their fastest rate since the financial crisis of 2008-09. When people feel reasonably flush they may feel more generous towards others.

這種轉(zhuǎn)變有很多原因。一個(gè)是經(jīng)濟(jì)上的。處于工作年齡的就業(yè)率已升至歷史最高水平，因此用奧斯本的話說，當(dāng)鄰居們開始早晨的通勤時(shí)，仍在打盹的人更少了。工資也在以2008-09年金融危機(jī)以來最快的速度增長。當(dāng)人們感到相當(dāng)富足時(shí)，他們可能會(huì)對他人更加慷慨。

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But a strong labour market does not always translate into support for welfare. The British economy boomed in 1997-2007, when Tony Blair’s Labour government was in charge, yet scepticism about welfare rose during Mr Blair’s second and third terms. What other factors are at play?

但強(qiáng)勁的勞動(dòng)力市場并不總是轉(zhuǎn)化為對福利的支持。英國經(jīng)濟(jì)在1997年至2007年蓬勃發(fā)展，當(dāng)時(shí)托尼?布萊爾(Tony Blair)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的工黨(Labour)政府執(zhí)政，但在布萊爾的第二和第三屆任期內(nèi)，人們對福利的懷疑有所上升。還有哪些因素在起作用?

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Policy is one. The Tories, who came to power in 2010 on a promise to balance the fiscal books, have long been tough on benefits. In a conference speech in 1992 Peter Lilley, then the welfare secretary, adapted the libretto of a Gilbert and Sullivan musical: “I’ve got a little list / Of benefit offenders who I’ll soon be rooting out / And who never would be missed.” Yet even by Conservative standards, cuts to working-age welfare under Mr Osborne were severe. In the 2010-15 parliament about ￡30bn (equivalent to over 1% of GDP) was stripped away; single parents in work lost benefits worth 6% of their after-tax income. Reforms announced shortly after the general election in 2015 fell even harder on the poor.

政策就是其中之一。保守黨在2010年上臺時(shí)承諾平衡財(cái)政收支，長期以來一直對福利政策持強(qiáng)硬態(tài)度。1992年，時(shí)任英國福利大臣的彼得?利利(Peter Lilley)在一次會(huì)議演講中，改編了吉爾伯特與沙利文(Gilbert and Sullivan)音樂劇的歌詞:“我列出了一些小名單/我很快就會(huì)根除/而且永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)錯(cuò)過的福利違法者。”然而，即使按照保守的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，在奧斯本的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，工作年齡福利的削減也是嚴(yán)重的。在2010年至2015年的議會(huì)中，約300億英鎊(相當(dāng)于GDP的1%以上)被削減;單親父母失去了稅后收入6%的福利。2015年大選后不久宣布的改革對窮人的打擊更大。

詞匯

libretto/劇本；歌詞集

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The highly visible effects of these policies, from a proliferation of food banks to a rise in rough sleeping, have convinced many people that Mr Osborne went too far. As on many subjects, public opinion on welfare tends to be “thermostatic”, says Ben Baumberg Geiger of the University of Kent. Once policies become harsher or softer than the level preferred by the public, voters send a signal and the government adjusts the policy “temperature” accordingly. Philip Hammond, who replaced Mr Osborne in 2016, has slightly increased the working-age welfare budget.

這些政策的顯著效果，從食品銀行的激增到睡眠質(zhì)量的提高，讓很多人相信奧斯本做得太過了。肯特大學(xué)的本·鮑姆伯格·蓋格說，就像在許多問題上一樣，公眾對福利的看法往往是“恒溫的”。一旦政策變得比公眾所喜歡的更嚴(yán)厲或更溫和，選民就會(huì)發(fā)出一個(gè)信號，政府就會(huì)相應(yīng)地調(diào)整政策的“溫度”。2016年接替奧斯本的菲利普?哈蒙德(Philip Hammond)小幅提高了工作年齡福利預(yù)算。

詞匯

Proliferation/增殖；擴(kuò)散

Thermostatic/調(diào)節(jié)溫度裝置的；恒溫的

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Changes in other policy areas may help to explain why the public has gone softer on welfare. The growing concern in the 2000s with benefit fraud and abuse coincided with a big rise in immigration, especially after 2004, when residents of eight eastern European countries got the right to work in Britain. Voters feared the prospect of migrants coming to live off the taxpayer (many did indeed claim in-work benefits, though very few lived off the dole). A sense that Brexit will lead to lower immigration may have convinced people that there is no longer such a risk involved in having a generous welfare policy. Once the government is seen to be acting on a topic, public opinion moves on, says Andrew Cooper, a pollster at Populus.

其他政策領(lǐng)域的變化可能有助于解釋為什么公眾對福利的態(tài)度有所軟化。在本世紀(jì)頭十年，人們對福利欺詐和濫用的擔(dān)憂日益加劇，與此同時(shí)，移民人數(shù)大幅增加，尤其是在2004年之后，8個(gè)東歐國家的居民獲得了在英國工作的權(quán)利。選民們擔(dān)心移民們將來會(huì)依靠納稅人生活(許多人確實(shí)要求在職福利，但很少有人靠失業(yè)救濟(jì)金生活)。認(rèn)為英國退歐將導(dǎo)致移民減少的想法，可能已經(jīng)讓人們相信，英國的慷慨的福利政策不再受外來移民風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的影響。Populus的民意調(diào)查員安德魯?庫珀(Andrew Cooper)表示，一旦政府被認(rèn)為是在某個(gè)話題上采取行動(dòng)，公眾意見就會(huì)跟隨著政府前進(jìn)。

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The change in mood is matched in the political debate. Not long ago, opposition parties boasted that they would be tougher on welfare than the incumbent. As recently as 2015 Labour—then under the caretaker leadership of Harriet Harman, a veteran of Mr Blair’s administrations—whipped its MPs to abstain on a vote on Mr Osborne’s benefit cuts, rather than vote against them. Ed Miliband, who preceded her as leader, promised to crack down on migrants receiving benefits.

在政治辯論中，人們的情緒也發(fā)生了相應(yīng)的變化。不久前，反對黨還夸口說，他們在福利方面會(huì)比現(xiàn)任政府更加強(qiáng)硬。就在2015年，工黨——當(dāng)時(shí)在布萊爾政府的資深看守人哈麗雅特?哈曼的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下——敦促其議員們對奧斯本削減福利的提案投棄權(quán)票，而不是投反對票。在她之前擔(dān)任工黨領(lǐng)袖的埃德?米利班德(Ed Miliband)承諾打擊接受福利的移民。

詞匯

Incumbent/現(xiàn)任的；依靠的

Abstain/（投票時(shí)）棄權(quán)，放棄

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A bunch of left-wing backbenchers, including Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, ignored Ms Harman’s orders, with Mr McDonnell pledging to “swim through vomit” to oppose the cuts. Mr Corbyn has since become Labour’s leader, and the party has moved in a different direction. It has mooted a universal basic income and hinted that it would scrap universal credit. Labour’s emollient approach means that the Tories no longer need to be macho about welfare. “Politicians now in Parliament can’t get up and speak the way they did a few years ago,” says Mr McDonnell, now the shadow chancellor. “In those days, we were still at ‘scrounger’ and all the rest.”

包括杰里米?科爾賓(Jeremy Corbyn)和約翰?麥克唐奈(John McDonnell)在內(nèi)的一群左翼后座議員無視哈曼的命令，麥克唐奈誓言要“穿過嘔吐物”來反對削減開支?？茽栙e先生后來成為工黨的領(lǐng)袖，工黨已經(jīng)朝著不同的方向前進(jìn)。它提出了全民基本收入，并暗示將廢除全民信貸。工黨的溫和態(tài)度意味著保守黨不再需要在福利問題上表現(xiàn)得像個(gè)男子漢?，F(xiàn)任影子內(nèi)閣大臣的麥克唐奈表示:“現(xiàn)在國會(huì)中的政客們無法像幾年前那樣站起來說話?！薄霸谀切┤兆永?，我們?nèi)匀辉凇蜇ぁ推渌麊栴}上?！?/p>

詞匯

Vomit/嘔吐物

Emollient/潤膚霜；鎮(zhèn)痛膏；軟化劑

Macho/大男子氣概的

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One person, at least, has not changed his mind on benefits. When asked last October whether he regretted his actions in government, Mr Osborne admitted to policy failures regarding the EU, immigration and the banking industry. But he mounted a staunch defence of his welfare cuts. “If you are going to have to deal with the fact the country was spending too much, it would be a bit odd to leave out the very large chunk the government was spending on welfare,” said Mr Osborne. Voters, it seems, now disagree.

至少有一個(gè)人沒有改變對福利的看法。去年10月，當(dāng)被問及是否對自己在政府中的行為感到后悔時(shí)，奧斯本承認(rèn)自己在歐盟、移民和銀行業(yè)方面的政策失誤。但他堅(jiān)決捍衛(wèi)自己的福利削減。奧斯本表示:“如果你不得不面對這個(gè)國家支出過多的事實(shí)，那么把政府在福利方面的巨額支出排除在外就有點(diǎn)奇怪了?！爆F(xiàn)在看來，選民們對此并不認(rèn)同。

詞匯

Staunch/堅(jiān)定的；忠誠的