来源：《卫报》
原文刊登日期：2022年11月10日
本文适合2024考生
In 2005, the then chancellor Gordon Brown launched child trust funds. Every baby born in the UK would receive a lump sum of £250 from the government, which would be automatically invested if parents did not do this themselves. The beneficiaries would be able to withdraw these savings when they were 18. The policy was regarded as clunky by some and was scrapped by the Conservatives in 2010. But judging from new research demonstrating the connection between assets and wellbeing, Mr Brown’s instinct was right. Having savings makes a huge difference to people’s lives.
2005年，时任财政大臣戈登·布朗启动了儿童信托基金。每一个在英国出生的婴儿都将从政府获得250英镑的一次性补助，如果父母不领取，这笔钱将自动进入投资。受益人在18岁时就可以提取这些储蓄。这项政策被一些人认为是笨拙的，并在2010年被保守党废除。但从证明资产与幸福之间关系的新研究来看，布朗的直觉是正确的。有储蓄对人们的生活有很大的影响。
The study identifies two trends that are worrying in themselves – but even more so when linked together. These are financial insecurity and mental distress, and both have risen sharply over the past decade. The jobs market is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy picture. But the fact that a million people are on zero-hours contracts, combined with low benefit levels, falling home ownership and the doubling of the private rental sector, mean that an increasing proportion of the population is chronically insecure. One-fifth of adults have savings of less than £700.
这项研究确定了两个本身就令人担忧的趋势，但如果联系在一起，就更令人担忧了。这两种情况分别是财务上的不安全感和精神上的苦恼，而这两种情况在过去十年中都急剧上升。就业市场是黯淡前景中的一个亮点。但事实上，100万人签的是零时工合同，再加上福利水平较低、住房拥有率下降以及私人租赁部门翻倍，意味着长期缺乏安全感的人口比例越来越大。五分之一的成年人储蓄不足700英镑。
Over a similar period, levels of anxiety and depression have rocketed, to the point where 17% of adults were prescribed antidepressants in 2017-18. These cases were concentrated in the poorest parts of northern England, and the 64% growth in prescriptions between 2010 and 2017 outstripped increases in other European countries by large margins. The data shows that poor mental health is far more likely to be experienced by people who are financially vulnerable. Those stuck in precarious housing tenure, with debts, report higher levels of symptoms including sleeplessness and feelings of worthlessness.
差不多与此同时，焦虑和抑郁的水平急剧上升，在2017-18年，17%的成年人被开了抗抑郁药。这些病例集中在英格兰北部最贫穷的地区，2010年至2017年期间处方数量增长了64%，大大超过了其他欧洲国家的增幅。数据显示，经济状况不佳的人更有可能出现心理健康问题。那些被困在不稳定的房屋保有权中，有债务的人，报告了更高程度的症状，包括失眠和无价值感。
It should not surprise anyone that having no money keeps people awake at night. Reports from around the country about rising levels of hunger become ever more disturbing. But there are lessons here for policymakers. The risk to individuals, and the society they live in, is that people become caught in a downward spiral, whereby poor mental health is caused by economic insecurity, and in turn increases it by stopping them from working. Already, two-thirds of employment support allowance claimants report anxiety or depression. The overall cost to NHS England of mental health services is £15bn annually.
没钱会让人夜不能寐，这一点不应该让任何人感到惊讶。来自全英各地关于饥饿水平上升的报道变得越来越令人不安。但政策制定者可以从中吸取教训。个人和他们所生活的社会面临的风险是，人们陷入了一种恶性循环，经济不安全导致心理健康状况不佳，反过来他们又因此停止工作而加剧心理健康恶化。已经有三分之二的就业支持津贴申请者表示焦虑或抑郁。英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）每年的心理健康服务总成本为150亿英镑。
Some of this illness is preventable. Ministers must face the fact that their punitive approach to benefits, and generosity to landlords and employers, have made many lives far harder than they need have been. The ending of section 21 evictions, whereby renters can be kicked out at short notice for no reason, is shamefully overdue. Employment rights need strengthening urgently. Benefits must be uprated, and eligibility for free school meals extended to prevent even more people from becoming trapped. In the longer term, politicians must find ways to rebalance the nation’s wealth and assets towards those who have little or none.
其中一些疾病是可以预防的。内阁大臣们必须面对这样一个事实：他们对福利发放的惩罚性措施，以及对房东和雇主的慷慨，使许多人的生活比他们本应过的要艰难得多。第21条规定租户可以在接到通知后毫无理由地被赶出，这一规定早就该终止了，真是可耻。就业权利迫切需要加强。福利必须提高，免费校餐的资格必须扩大，以防止更多的人陷入困境。从长远来看，政客们必须找到办法，使国家的财富和资产向那些几乎一无所有的人倾斜。