UK middle classes ‘struggling despite incomes of up to £60,000 a year’
-Insecure jobs and high housing costs make it hard to maintain decent living standard, says abrdn Financial Fairness Trust

英国中产阶级：尽管年收入高达6万英镑，但仍在挣扎
——abrdn金融公平信托基金称，不稳定的工作和高昂的住房成本使得人们很难维持体面的生活水平


(The abrdn Financial Fairness Trust report said problems of middle-class insecurity were especially acute for single parents.)

（英国金融公平信托基金会的报告称，中产阶级的不安全感问题对单亲父母来说尤其严重。）
新闻：

Britain’s insecure jobs market and high housing costs are leading to the growth of a precarious middle class struggling to maintain a decent living standard on household incomes as high as £60,000 a year, a report has said.

一份报告称，英国不稳定的就业市场和高昂的住房成本正导致一个不稳定的中产阶级的增长，他们的家庭年收入高达6万英镑，但难以维持体面的生活水平。

A study released by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, a research body set up by the fund manager, said the uncertain nature of work meant there was a one in three chance that someone earning a middle income today would not be doing so next year.

由这位基金经理创立的研究机构abrdn金融公平信托基金发布的一份研究报告称，工作的不确定性意味着，今天处于中等收入水平的人明年将有三分之一的概率失业。

The report – Caught in the Middle – said that problems of middle-class insecurity were especially acute for single parents, with those in employment more likely than not to be in an insecure job.

这份名为《夹在中间》的报告称，中产阶级的不安全感问题对单身父母来说尤其严重，那些有工作的人更有可能从事一份不稳定的工作。

Donald Hirsch, a policy adviser at the FFT and one of the report’s authors, said 20% of those in the middle fifth of the income distribution were struggling to pay for food and other essentials. “It is people earning between £30,000-£60,000 a year, depending on the type of household, people who you would expect to be doing OK,” he said.

该信托基金的政策顾问、该报告的作者之一唐纳德·赫希说，在收入分配的中间五分之一的人群中，有20%的人难以支付食物和其他必需品。他说：“年收入在3万至6万英镑之间的人会过得不错，这取决于家庭的类型。”

“Being on a middle income does not make people secure. In the present cost of living crisis, the vulnerabilities of people on modest incomes have become more apparent. They face significant uncertainties, and are rightly encouraged to save both for rainy days and their retirement,” Hirsch said.

赫希说：“中等收入并不能让人有安全感。在当前的生活成本危机中，中等收入人群的脆弱性变得更加明显。他们面临着巨大的不确定性，因此被鼓励存钱以备不时之需和退休之需。

“Yet if they are also paying off student debt and have high housing costs, it becomes difficult to maintain a decent living standard today – even at the minimum level often associated with lower income groups.”

“然而，如果他们还要偿还学生贷款，还要承担高昂的住房成本，那么如今就很难维持体面的生活水平了——甚至是通常与低收入群体相关的最低生活水平。”

The report defines work as “insecure” if someone is either self-employed or has been working for their present employer for less than two years, or less than three years if working part-time. It also classifies very low-paid full-time jobs – where pay is less than half the full-time average – as insecure.

该报告将个体户或为现任雇主工作不到两年，或兼职工作不到三年的人定义为“不安全”工作。它还将收入极低（收入不到全职平均水平的一半）的全职工作归类为“不安全”工作。

Working-age adults became more likely to be in work, but less likely to be in secure work, during the 2010s.

在2010年代，工作年龄的成年人有工作的概率更高，但有稳定工作的概率更低。

Worklessness – combining unemployment and economic inactivity – fell from 20% to 18% over this period, but secure employment also fell, by 1.5 percentage points, while insecure employment rose by four percentage points.

在此期间，失业率（包括失业和经济不活跃）从20%下降到18%，但稳定就业也下降了1.5个百分点，不稳定就业上升了4个百分点。

Hirsch said the problems of the precarious middle classes were not as severe as for those further down the income scale, but that it was important for the government to act to tackle growing insecurity.

赫希说，不稳定的中产阶级的问题不像收入水平较低的中产阶级那么严重，但政府采取行动解决日益增长的不安全感是很重要的。

“Measures to improve predictability, stability and the right to flexible working had been promised for the present parliament, but were not delivered. In the coming parliament, this should be a priority.”

“改善可预见性、稳定性和灵活工作权利的措施已向本届议会作出承诺，但没有兑现。在即将到来的新一届议会中，这应该是一个优先事项。”

The study found that more than one in four people in the middle of the income distribution were not in secure employment, and one in seven were not in secure housing. One in three of those in the middle quintile in a given year will have slipped down to a lower quintile the following year.

研究发现，在收入分配中，超过四分之一的人没有稳定的工作，七分之一的人没有稳定的住房。在给定年份处于中间五分之一段的人中，有三分之一的人将在第二年滑落到较低的五分之一段。

While financial pressures on middle income families were not new, some issues had become more important. Childcare costs had outstripped other prices and earnings; housing had in many cases become less affordable; student debt had increased significantly and pension savings were becoming more important to retirement security.

虽然中等收入家庭的财政压力并不新鲜，但有些问题变得更加重要。托儿费用超过了其他价格和收入；在许多情况下，住房变得越来越难以负担；学生债务大幅增加，养老金储蓄对退休保障越来越重要。

“Some groups are clearly more vulnerable than others. Single adults and lone parents have less security and resilience than couples. People in privately rented accommodation face the double disadvantage of high housing costs and low security,” the report said. “Younger adults are more likely than older ones to have insecure work, higher housing costs and be repaying student debt.”

该报告称：“有些群体显然比其他群体更脆弱。单身成年人和单身父母的安全感和适应力不如夫妻。私人租赁住房的人面临着住房成本高和安全性低的双重劣势。年轻人比老年人更有可能工作不稳定，住房成本更高，还要偿还学生贷款。”

In addition to measures to provide greater employment security, the report said more needed to be done to boost the protection given to tenants in the private rented sector. The renters reform bill – which is going through parliament – was an important step, the report said.

除了提供更大的就业保障措施外，报告称还需要采取更多措施来加强对私人租赁部门租户的保护。报告称，正在议会审议的房客改革法案是重要的一步。
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It argued that more should be done to ensure the rising earnings of those on middle incomes were not cancelled out by childcare costs, and to increase the amount of contributions made by employers and government to pensions.

它认为，应该采取更多措施，以确保中等收入人群收入的增长不会被儿童保育成本抵消，并增加雇主和政府对养老金的贡献。