What is driving this? Some of it is simply growing life expectancy: people are most likely to live alone when they are in their twilight years. But divorce also plays a part. The number of marriages breaking up has fallen drastically in the past few decades, probably because fewer people are getting hitched in the first place. But the number of over-50s divorcing has increased sharply. Those newly single people need more space.
是什麼導致了這一切？其中一個原因僅僅是預期壽命的增長：人們在晚年最可能獨自生活。但離婚也有一定關係。在近幾十年裡，離婚的數量急劇下降，可能是因為結婚的人一開始就變少了。但50歲以上的離婚人數卻在急劇增加。那些剛剛單身的人需要更多的空間。
Britain's tax system encourages people to 「consume as much housing as they can afford」, says Rose Grayston of Shelter, a charity. Property taxes are lower, proportionately, on bigger houses. Stamp duty, a tax on buying property, can make downsizing expensive. Recently older buyers' spending power has risen relative to that of younger people. In real terms, earnings have fallen since 2008 across the board, but most of all for the young. Rents have also fallen, but not by as much as interest rates or wages.
慈善機構「庇護所」的羅斯·格雷斯頓說，英國的稅收制度鼓勵人們「儘可能多地購買他們承擔得起的住房」。按比例計算，大房子徵收的房產稅要低一些。印花稅是對購買房產徵收的一種稅，會使買小一點的房子變得昂貴。最近，相對於年輕人，老年人的購買力有所上升。按實際價值計算，自2008年以來，所有人的收入都在下降，但最主要下降的還是年輕人。雖然租金也有所下降，但降幅不及利率或工資。
One consequence of this is that more and more young adults live with their parents. A quarter of those aged 20-34 are still at home, up from around one-fifth a decade ago. But not everyone has a family to live with. And the poorest young people are particularly exposed. In the parts of London where it is legal, there is a booming business in converting offices into tiny bedsits cheap enough for people on housing benefit. Someone under the age of 35 on welfare only gets enough to rent a room in a shared home, notes Ann Berrington of the University of Southampton.
其後果之一就是越來越多的年輕人與父母住在一起。20至34歲的年輕人中有四分之一仍然呆在家裡，而十年前只有五分之一。但並不是每個人都有家可住。那些最貧困的年輕人尤其無處安居。在倫敦一些地方，合法地把辦公室改造成出租屋的業務正在蓬勃發展，這種出租屋足夠便宜，領取住房補貼的人業可以承擔的起。南安普敦大學的安·貝林頓指出，35歲以下靠救濟生活的人只能在合租房裡租到一個房間。
Some housing wonks now think that Britain is building enough homes to go around. Projections of the growth in the number of households have been cut back, so that from now on the government expects demand to undershoot construction, for the first time in years. But even a surplus of homes may not be enough to stop the young and poor from having to play sardines, if the old and rich are incentivised to spread out.
一些房地產專家現在認為，英國正在建造足夠多的房屋以供居住。對家庭數量增長的預測已經被下調，因此從現在開始，政府預計住房需求將在多年來首次出現低於建設量的情況。但如果老年人和富人被鼓勵分散居住的話，即使富餘的住房量也不足幫助年輕人和貧窮的人擺脫像玩沙丁魚遊戲一樣擠在一起的現狀。
註：沙丁魚遊戲是英國家庭聚會時經常玩的一個遊戲。類似於躲貓貓，但找到別人就要跟別人呆在同一個地方，直到所有參與遊戲的人都擠在一起，就像沙丁魚罐頭。
The End 完結
The content of translation is for learning and communication only, does not represent the translator's opinion. 譯文內容僅用學習交流使用，不代表譯者主觀立場。