为何日本人生育这么少的孩子

 　　LAST month a local official in Aichiprefecture set out a daring proposal. Tomonaga Osada suggested that theauthorities could distribute secretly punctured¹ condoms to young marriedcouples, who would then get to work boosting the birth rate. His unorthodoxploy won few supporters, yet it reflects a gathering² concern about Japan’sdemographic plight³. Last year just over 1m babies were born, far fewer than thenumber needed to maintain the population, which is expected to drop from 127m toaround 87m by 2060. Why are young Japanese so loth to procreate?

　　上个月，日本爱知县当地官员提出了一项大胆的提议。Tomonaga Osada提议有关当局秘密向已婚的年轻夫妇发放被刺破的避孕套，以此让他们提高生育率。这个异端的计策并未获得支持，但这却反映了日益让人感到担忧的日本人口困境，去年，日本只迎来了100万新生儿，这些数量远低于维持人口所需的数量。据预期，截至2060年，日本人口将从1.27亿落到8700万左右。那么，为何日本的年轻人不愿意生育子女呢？

　　为何日本人生育这么少的孩子1.jpg

　　The spiral of demographic decline isspinning faster as the number of women of child-bearing age falls. In May areport predicted that 500 or more towns across the country will disappear byaround 2040 as young women migrate to bigger cities. The workforce⁴ is alreadyshrinking, imperiling future growth. In recent years governments have embarkedon a plethora⁵ of schemes to encourage childbearing, including a “women’shandbook” to educate young females on the high and lowpoints of their fertility, and state-sponsored matchmaking events.

　　随着育龄妇女人数的减少，人口呈螺旋式下降的速度越来越快。5月份发布的一份报道预示，随着年轻女性移居大城市，截止2040年左右，日本国内将有500个甚至更多的城镇消失。日本的奥洞里已经在萎缩，这将危及将来的发展。近年来，政府已经实施了大量鼓励生育的方案，其中包括发放“妇女指南”对妇女的生育能力高低峰进行指导，还有国家赞助的相亲活动。

　　The chief reason for the dearth⁶ ofbirths is the decline of marriage. Fewer people are opting⁷ to wed⁸, andthey are doing so later in life. At least a third of young women aim to becomefull-time housewives, yet they struggle to find men who can support atraditional family. In better economic times potential suitors had permanentjobs as part of the “lifetime employment” system. Now many hold down temporaryor part-time work. Other women shun⁹ marriage and children because Japan’sold-fashioned corporate¹⁰ culture, together with a dire¹¹ shortage of childcare,would force them to give up their careers. Finally, young people are bound bystrict social codes. Only around 2% of babies are born outside marriage(compared with 30-50% in most of the rich world), which means that as weddingsplummet, so do births. Even for those who do start families, the rising cost ofchild-rearing often imposes a de facto one-child policy.

　　低生育率的主要原因是结婚率的降低。越来越少的人选择步入婚姻殿堂，他们选择在晚年结婚。至少有三分之一年轻女性的目标是成为全职家庭主妇，然而他们很难找到可以支撑起这种传统家庭模式的男人。在经济情况比较好的时候，她们潜在的求婚者拥有着“终身就业”体制内的稳定工作，但现在，很多人只有临时或兼职工作。日本老式的企业文化以及严重缺乏儿童保育迫使妇女不得不放弃职业也是另一些妇女避开婚姻和生育的原因。最后就是，年轻人受到严格社会规范的制约，只有2%的婴儿出生率发生在婚外（相比之下，大多发达国家达到了30-50%）。这意味着，结婚率下跌，出生率也跟着下跌。即使对于那些有孩子的人来说，养育孩子成本的增加使得他们往往只能落实一胎政策。

　　So far the government of Shinzo Abe hastalked about such steps, but shied away from taking them. Instead Mr Abe isacting to help women combine careers with children. Many demographers¹² reckon itis already too late to lift Japan’s birth rate, now at 1.43children per woman. The eventual¹³ answer, they say, will be more shocking eventhan spiked¹⁴ prophylactics¹⁵: mass immigration.

　　目前，安倍政府已经提到了这些措施，但却在回避落实。相反，安倍先生正采取行动帮助女性兼顾职业和孩子。很多人口学家认为，提高日本的生育率为时已晚，现在日本女性人均生育率为1.43。他们说，最终的解决方法将比发放被刺的避孕套更令人感到震惊：大批移民入境。

1 punctured   

v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气

参考例句：

• Some glass on the road punctured my new tyre. 路上的玻璃刺破了我的新轮胎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A nail on the road punctured the tyre. 路上的钉子把车胎戳穿了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

4 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

5 plethora   

n.过量，过剩

参考例句：

• Java comes with a plethora of ready-made types.Java配套提供了数量众多的现成类型。
• A plethora of new operators will be allowed to enter the market.大批新的运营商将获准进入该市场。

6 dearth   

n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨

参考例句：

• There is a dearth of good children's plays.目前缺少优秀的儿童剧。
• Many people in that country died because of dearth of food.那个国家有许多人因为缺少粮食而死。

7 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

8 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

9 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

10 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

11 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

12 demographers   

n.人口统计学( demography的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Demographers, however, point out that the'single" trend will have a profound effect on American institutions. 不过，人口学家们指出，“单身”趋势将对美国的公共机构产生深远的影响。 来自时文部分
• Selectivity of human migration long been the focus of demographers and economists. 人口迁移的选择性一直以来都是人口学家和经济学家关注的焦点。 来自互联网

13 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

14 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

15 prophylactics   

n.预防剂( prophylactic的名词复数 )；预防用品；预防法；避孕用品

参考例句：

• The prospect of teachers passing out prophylactics to their pupils has infuriated some parents. 想到老师将分发避孕套给学生使一些家长愤慨不已。 来自柯林斯例句