全球社会热点新闻 女性消费不衰退（在线收听）

No recession in women consumption

女性消费不衰退

Recession? What recession? Research into the shopping habits of Britain’s women has found that spending on clothes, gym memberships and holidays has recovered over the past six months and is now higher than before the credit crunch.

经济衰退？什么经济衰退？针英国女性购物习惯的研究发现,过去6个月中她们在衣服、健身俱乐部会员和度假旅游上的消费已有所恢复,甚至现在的消费水平比信贷紧缩之前还要高。

The research, by Post Office Financial Services, also found that millions of women are quietly borrowing from relatives to maintain their spending, in what it says is an attempt to uphold an image and avoid potential redundancy.

邮政金融服务部的研究发现，数百万的女人们正悄悄地向亲戚朋友借钱以维持消费水平,调查中说，她们想努力保持形象以免被公司裁员。

Consumer spending psychologist Donna Dawson says: “What we are seeing in the shopping habits of these women is not escapism or avoidance of the truth—it is actually more shrewd and calculated than that. When the economy is insecure, people and jobs can fall with it, and so these women have gone into 'survival mode', polishing up their images to ensure their economic and emotional survival. Also, a woman knows that investing in herself is the best way to boost self-confidence, especially in troubled times,”

消费心理学家唐娜道森说我们发现，女人的购物癖不是为了逃避现实，实际上，她们更精明和更有计划。经济形势不妙，公司员工和工作机会随之减少，因此这些女人进入的是一种‘生存模式状态，她们改善自己的形象以确保在经济和感情上能熬过这段时期。女人也知道对自己投资是提髙自信心的最好方式，特别是在经济困难时期

Sophie Stringer, a 28-year-old freelance researcher for a non-profit organisation, has continued to buy smart clothes during the recession as she believes it is important to look your best when "you are your only representative”.

索菲斯金格是一名28岁的自由职业研究人员，为某非盈利机构工作。她在经济衰退期间一直买时髦漂亮的衣服，因为她相信当 “你是自己唯一的代表”时，让自己看起来魅力四射是很重要的。

She has also recently joined a gym for the first time in her life to keep herself fit and healthy, as sick days are a no-no when you’re not permanent staff. Sophie says: “When you’re working for yourself you’re your own brand to an extent, so I look after myself... and tell myself it’s an investment.”

她最近也是平生第一次加人了一家健身俱乐部加强身体锻炼， 因为如果不是公司的永久编制人员，得病是最大忌讳。索菲说当你为自己工作时，在某种程度上你是自己的品牌，因此我要照顾自己……我告诉自己这是一项投资。”

Down on the high street, many shoppers regard saving as pointless when interest rates are so low.

商业大街上的许多顾客都认为，当银行利率这么低的时候,储蓄毫无意义。

"I can’t see the point in saving because of low interest rates. I don’t have much disposable income, so what I do have I would rather spend on treating myself."says Harriet Lane, a 27-year-old school nurse from Oxford.

来自牛津镇的哈里特雷茵现年27岁，是一个学校的护士。她说:“这么低的银行利率，我不清楚存钱有什么意义。我也没有太多的可支配收人，所以我宁愿把所赚到的钱都花在自己身上。”

According to the Post Office, the research revealed that “over 15 million women have not reduced the number of credit cards they use during the credit crunch, and nearly 3 million are borrowing money from a relative to keep their finances topped up.”

邮政金融服务部调査揭示“超过1500万名女性在信贷紧缩期间并没有减少信用卡的使用量,有近300万女性从亲戚朋友那里借钱维持账户充盈。”

Beccy Boden Wilks at the National Debtline says she still regularly deals with individuals hypnotised by our spending culture: “Over the years I have worked with young women that were funding a lifestyle they can’t afford. One girl went on a shopping trip to New York when she was in debt. It’s expensive to go to New York anyway, let alone to go shopping.”

英国国家理债专线的贝西波登维尔克斯说,她仍然要定期对付一些受到我们的购物文化催眠的人。“我处理年轻女性的债务问题有几年了,她们把大笔的钱花在承担不起的生活方式上。例如，一个女孩负债累累还要去纽约购物。去一趟纽约都要花不少钱，更别说还要购物了。”

Wilkins Kennedy said that 55% of all under 24-year-olds going bankrupt are women, compared to just 48.3% five years ago. Last year, there were 1,560 women under 24 declared bankrupt compared to 1,250 men from the same age group.

威尔金斯肯尼迪会计公司称，所有24岁以下破产的人中女性占55%,而5年前只有48.3%。去年有1560名24岁以下的女性宣布破产,同年龄组的男性则是1250名。

“Five years ago it tended to be young men who got out of their financial depth, but now it is far more likely to be young women who spend irresponsibly. That gap between the genders seems to be growing," Anthony Cork, director of Wilkins Kennedy said.

威尔金斯肯尼迪的主任安东尼科克说:“5年前似乎是男人企图摆脱金融债务的桎梏,而现在更可能是年轻女人不负责任地乱花钱。两性之间的这种差异似乎正在扩大。”

He added that there is now a burden on young women to prove their independence by renting or owning their own flat—a problem that young men seem to suffer from less. According to the Office of National Statistics, 29% of 20 to 34-year-old men now live with their parents compared to just 18% of women. Cork added, “Too many young, single women have taken out mortgages that eat up far too much of their monthly salaries. This makes them vulnerable to changes in interest rates and makes them far more likely to go bankrupt if they lose their job.”

他说年轻女性喜欢在外租房或者拥有自己的公寓以证明自己的独立性,这样对她们来说经济上有不少压力——问题是年轻的男性似乎受此影响较少。根据英国国家统计局的报告,20至34岁的男性中有29%现在还和父母住在一起，而年轻女性只有18%。科克还说许多单身的年轻女性，每月要拿出薪水中的大部分用来偿还抵押贷款。银行利率一变化，她们就容易受到影响,一旦失去工作,她们更容易破产。”