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Britain Measuring poverty —— The end of the line
英國衡量貧困：貧困終止
The government sets out to redefine what it means to be poor
政府著手重新定義貧窮
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When Seebohm Rowntree, a chocolate-maker and pioneering social researcher, began measuring poverty in York in 1899, he worked out the minimum needed to buy enough food for "physical efficiency". In 1935, when he repeated the study, Rowntree added allowances for cigarettes, newspapers and a holiday. By 1951 he concluded that poverty was on its way towards being eradicated, with only pockets among the elderly left, and stopped counting.
1899 年，當巧克力制造商和社會學傢先驅的西伯姆 · 朗特裡 ( Seebohm Rowntree ) 在約克 ( York ) 開始測量貧困，他提出瞭 " 最低溫飽線 " 的理論。在 1935 年，在反復研究之後，他又推行瞭關於香煙，報紙以及假期的補貼制度。並在 1951 年的時候，他得出結論，稱除瞭部分老人外，若按此方法進行下去將會貧困將會得到消除，因此他停下瞭研究的腳步。
Few now experience the raw penury of Rowntree ’ s day. But measuring poverty remains an obsession. In its dying days the last Labour government passed a law committing its successors to reduce child poverty. That is causing trouble for the present lot. Under the law, poverty is defined primarily in relative terms: families with less than 60% of the median income are considered to be poor. On November 15th Iain Duncan Smith, the welfare secretary, was set to launch a consultation to come up with a better definition. He wants to include things that he regards as the real causes of want: worklessness, educational failure and drug and alcohol dependency.
現在很少有人能體驗到朗特裡時代的貧困。但是測衡貧困至今仍是個謎題。在上一屆工黨最後的執政日子裡，通過瞭一項關於他們下屆將會減少兒童貧困的法案。這對當下執政者造成瞭許多困擾。根據這項法律，貧窮的定義是相當於而言的：當傢庭的收入低於收入中位數 ( median income ) 的 60% 時，即被認為是貧困。在 11 月 15 日，福利大臣伊恩 · 鄧肯 · 史密斯 ( Iain Duncan Smith ) 著手組織咨詢討論，為其尋找一個更好的定義。他希望能把他認為真正導致貧困的原因加入進去即失業，輟學，吸毒以及酗酒。
There are several problems with the current measure. Because it is relative, it is influenced by changes in overall earnings. Figures released over the summer showed a sharp reduction in child poverty over the last year — mostly the result of falling median incomes rather than a genuine improvement. The measure fails to take into account the quality of services that the poor receive, such as education and health. Worst of all, from the point of view of a cash-strapped government, huge amounts of money must be spent on tax credits and other welfare programmes to raise family incomes up to the threshold.
目前貧困的標準存在幾個問題。因為該標準屬於相對標準，受整體收入變動的影響。如夏季公佈的圖表所示，與去年全年相比，今年同期的兒童貧困數量急劇下降，這主要是因為收入中位數的大幅下降並非現實狀況的真正改善。這項措施並未將貧困兒童接受補助的質量納入考慮范圍，這其中就包括教育和醫療。對於現金拮據的政府來說，更糟糕的是，他們必須花費巨資在稅務抵免和其他福利計劃上，才能將傢庭收入高於貧困線。
But several charities are nervous about changing how poverty is defined and suspect Mr. Duncan Smith of trying to wriggle out of a commitment to his predecessors ’ targets. These had some benign effects. Since 1999, when Tony Blair announced his ambition to end child poverty, the profile of the poor has changed profoundly. Thanks to tax credits, the proportion of children living in households below the poverty line has fallen by around a third. Pensioners, who have been supported since 2003 with a special credit, are now less likely to be in poverty than younger people. But working-age adults without children are actually worse off: whereas 12% were considered to be in poverty in 1997, now 15% are.
但是一些慈善組織對重新定義貧困深感不安，並且懷疑這是這是鄧肯 · 史密斯在逃避對其前任政府所定目標的承諾。那些目標還是有些積極地作用的。在 1999 年的時候，當托尼 · 佈萊爾 ( Tony Blair ) 高調宣佈，他將終結兒童貧困為己任，這一系列的措施讓貧困兒童的現狀發生瞭翻天覆地的變化。由於稅收抵免，生活在貧困線之下兒童的比例較之前減少瞭 1/3。自 2003 年以來領取養老金者便享受一項特殊津貼，相較於那些年輕人，他們受貧窮的可能性更低。但那些處於工作適齡卻沒有孩子的群體的經濟狀況實際上惡化瞭：在 1997 年，他們中有 12% 的人生活在貧困線以下，而現在已經達到瞭 15%。
It is not clear that this progress will continue, says Chris Goulden, a researcher at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The government ’ s big welfare reform — the universal credit — creates strong incentives for people to work for a few hours, which may help to increase incomes. But other reforms work in the opposite direction. Mr. Goulden reckons that child poverty will increase significantly by 2020, mostly thanks to a change to how benefit rates are increased with inflation.
約瑟夫 · 朗特裡基金會 ( Joseph Rowntree Foundation ) 的研究人員克裡斯 · 戈爾登 ( Chris Goulden ) 認為目前還不清楚的是，這項改進計劃是否會持續進行，而政府一項中較大的福利改革——全社會的稅收減免——極大地激勵瞭人們每周增加工作時間，將有利於增加他們的收入。但是其他的改革卻是與此背道而馳的。戈爾登認為，2020 年兒童貧困將會大大的增加。這主要是因為即使福利保障水平會上漲，但是通貨膨脹水平也會不斷上升。
The long economic slump and the rising price of food and energy have already made life harder for the very poorest. At a church in Brixton, in south London, desperate folk wait for parcels of donated food. Many similar food banks have opened recently, mostly helping people in debt, or those whose benefits have been suspended. The church recently collected donations from annual harvest festivals in schools. In the past, children collected food for the elderly, remarks the vicar. Now they collect it for their classmates.
漫長的經濟衰退時期以及糧食和能源價格的不斷上漲，使得貧困者的生活更加舉步維艱。在倫敦南部佈裡克斯頓 ( Brixton ) 的一座教堂裡，無論可走的人們在等待人們捐贈的食物包裹 。而在近期，開放瞭許多類似的食物發放站，主要用來幫助那些負債累累或者救助金暫停發放的人們。而教堂近期的捐贈是從一年一度的校園收獲感恩節 ( harvest festivals ) 上募集來的。牧師稱，在過去，孩子們為老人傢募捐。但是現在他們為自己的同學募捐。
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