经济学人217:人口统计学 时髦与蹒跚齐行

 　　Demography¹

　　人口统计学

　　Hip² and hobbling

　　时髦与蹒跚齐行

　　Not all towns are desperate to attract young people

　　并不是所有城镇都渴望吸引年轻人

　　Nationally, an ageing population is a problem. But locally it can be a boon³. The over-50s control 80% of Britain's wealth, and like to spend it on houses and high-street shopping. The young “generation rent”, by contrast, is poor, distractible and liable to shop online.

　　在国际上，人口老龄化是个问题。但在地方范围内，这可能是个福音。在英国，50岁以上的人群掌握着80%的财富，并乐于将这些财富用于购置房产和商场购物。相比而言，年轻的“租房一代”经济比较拮据，很容易分心，且依赖网上购物。

　　People aged⁴ between 50 and 74 spend twice as much as the under-30s on cinema tickets. Between 2000 and 2010 restaurant spending by those aged 65-74 increased by 33%, while the under-30s spent 18% less. The pension pots liberated⁵ by George Osborne's budget earlier this year will likely pour into property. And while the young still struggle to find work, older people are retiring later. During the financial crisis full-time⁶ employment fell for every age group but the over-65s, and there has been a rash of older entrepreneurs. Pensioners⁷ also support the working population by volunteering: some 100 retirees in Christchurch help out as business mentors⁸.

　　年龄在50到74岁之间的人群花在电影票上的钱是30岁以下人群的两倍之多。在2000年到2010年间，65到74岁人群的餐厅费用增长了33%，而30岁以下人群则减少了18%。今年年初因乔治·奥斯本的新财政预算案而被释放的养老金池将很可能大量涌入流通市场。当年轻人还在找工作的苦海中挣扎时，老年人的退休年龄却越来越推后了。金融危机期间，各个年龄阶层的全职工作率都降低了，只有65岁以上的人群没有受到影响，并且还出现了大批的老年企业家。领取养老金的人还通过志愿服务来帮助工作人群：克莱斯特彻奇就有约100名退休人员志愿成为企业导师。

　　城镇.jpg

　　Even if they wanted to, most small towns and cities could not capture the cool kids. Mobile young professionals cluster, and greatly prefer to cluster in London. Even supposed meccas like Manchester are ageing: clubs in that city are becoming members-only, and there are an increasing number of places, as one resident puts it, that “a 19-year-old wouldn't be seen dead in”. Towns that aim too young, like Bracknell and Chippenham, can find their high streets full of closed La Senzas (a lingerie chain) and struggling tattoo⁹ parlours. Outside Britain's capital, high concentrations of youth are commonly tied to high unemployment rates.

　　即使很多小城镇希望吸引年轻人，它们也做不到。流动的年轻人喜欢扎堆，尤其是喜欢聚集在伦敦。即使是像曼彻斯特这样所谓的麦加圣地也在逐渐老龄化：城市里的俱乐部正转向会员制，正如一个当地居民所说，越来越多的地方“看不到一个十九岁的少年在其中醉生梦死”。像布拉科内尔和切本哈姆这样定位于年龄过小的年轻人的城市，很容易发现自己的商业区满是倒闭的La Senzas（一内衣连锁店）和艰难经营的纹身室。在英国首都之外，年轻人的聚集通常都与高失业率捆绑在一起。

　　Companies often lag behind local authorities in working this out. They are London-obsessed, and have been slow to appreciate the growing economic heft of the old—who are assumed, often wrongly, to stick with products they learned to love in their youth. But Caroyln Freeman of Revelation Marketing¹⁰ reckons Britain could be on the verge¹¹ of a marketing surge directed at the grey pound, “similar to what we saw with the pink”. The window will not remain open forever: soon the baby boomers will start to ail¹², and no one else alive today is likely to have such a rich retirement¹³.

　　公司总是要比地方机构晚一步发现这个问题。他们痴迷于伦敦，并在欣赏日益增长的老年人不断提升的经济地位方面显得很迟钝——老年人通常被错误认为只会购买年轻时就认定了的产品。但来自Revelation Marketing（启示营销）的卡罗琳·弗里曼推测英国可能处于瞄准老年人钱包的营销边缘，“与我们从婴儿身上看到的潜力相似”。这么一个机会不会永远处于空窗期：很快婴儿潮世代的人年岁将会增长，而今天也再没有其他人会拥有这么好的退休待遇。

　　Meanwhile, with the over-50s holding the purse strings¹⁴, the towns that draw them are likely to grow more and more pleasant. The lord mayor of Manchester, Sue Cooley, notes that decent restaurants and nice shops spring up in the favoured haunts of the old, just as they do in the trendy, revamped boroughs¹⁵ of London. Latimer House, a Christchurch furniture store full of retro clothing and 1940s music, would not look out of place in Hackney. Improved high streets then entice¹⁶ customers of all ages.

　　同时，由于50岁以上的人群手握着钱包，吸引他们的城镇正在变得越来越令人满意。曼彻斯特的荣誉市长苏·库利指出受老年人青睐的高档餐厅和精致的商店正在崛起，正如在伦敦时髦、改造过的街区一样。拉蒂摩之家，一家摆满复古服饰、播放着40年代音乐的克莱斯特彻奇家具店，在哈克尼也不会显得格格不入。改进后的商业街可以吸引各个年龄层的顾客了。

　　Indeed, gentrification and gerontification can look remarkably¹⁷ similar. Old folk and young hipsters are similarly fond of vinyl and typewriters, and wander about in outsized spectacles. Some people never lose their edge.

　　确实，中产阶级化和老年化看起来惊人的相似。老伙计和年轻潮人都喜爱和打字机，并都戴着大号的眼镜在外闲逛。有些人永远风华正茂。

1 demography   

n.人口统计，人口学

参考例句：

• Demography is the analysis of population variables.人口学是对人口变量的分析。
• It was once a rule of demography that people have fewer children as their countries get richer.按人口统计学的一贯规律，一个国家里的人民越富有，他们所拥有的孩子就越少。

2 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

3 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

4 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。

5 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

6 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

7 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

8 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网

9 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

10 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

11 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

12 ail   

v.生病，折磨，苦恼

参考例句：

• It may provide answers to some of the problems that ail America.这一点可能解答困扰美国的某些问题。
• Seek your sauce where you get your ail.心痛还须心药治。

13 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。

14 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

15 boroughs   

（尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇

参考例句：

• London is made up of 32 boroughs. 伦敦由三十二个行政区组成。
• Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. 布鲁克林区是纽约市的五个行政区之一。

16 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

17 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。