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No recession in women consumption
女性消費不衰退
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.
經濟衰退？什么經濟衰退？針英國女性購物習慣的研究發現,過去6個月中她們在衣服、健身俱樂部會員和度假旅游上的消費已有所恢復,甚至現在的消費水平比信貸緊縮之前還要高。
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.
郵政金融服務部的研究發現，數百萬的女人們正悄悄地向親戚朋友借錢以維持消費水平,調查中說，她們想努力保持形象以免被公司裁員。
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,”
消費心理學家唐娜道森說我們發現，女人的購物癖不是為了逃避現實，實際上，她們更精明和更有計劃。經濟形勢不妙，公司員工和工作機會隨之減少，因此這些女人進入的是一種‘生存模式狀態，她們改善自己的形象以確保在經濟和感情上能熬過這段時期。女人也知道對自己投資是提髙自信心的最好方式，特別是在經濟困難時期
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歲的自由職業研究人員，為某非盈利機構工作。她在經濟衰退期間一直買時髦漂亮的衣服，因為她相信當 “你是自己唯一的代表”時，讓自己看起來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樂部加強身體鍛煉， 因為如果不是公司的永久編制人員，得病是最大忌諱。索菲說當你為自己工作時，在某種程度上你是自己的品牌，因此我要照顧自己……我告訴自己這是一項投資。”
Down on the high street, many shoppers regard saving as pointless when interest rates are so low.
商業大街上的許多顧客都認為，當銀行利率這么低的時候,儲蓄毫無意義。
"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.
來自牛津鎮的哈里特雷茵現年27歲，是一個學校的護士。她說:“這么低的銀行利率，我不清楚存錢有什么意義。我也沒有太多的可支配收人，所以我寧愿把所賺到的錢都花在自己身上。”
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.”
郵政金融服務部調査揭示“超過1500萬名女性在信貸緊縮期間并沒有減少信用卡的使用量,有近300萬女性從親戚朋友那里借錢維持賬戶充盈。”
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.”
英國國家理債專線的貝西波登維爾克斯說,她仍然要定期對付一些受到我們的購物文化催眠的人。“我處理年輕女性的債務問題有幾年了,她們把大筆的錢花在承擔不起的生活方式上。例如，一個女孩負債累累還要去紐約購物。去一趟紐約都要花不少錢，更別說還要購物了。”
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.
威爾金斯肯尼迪會計公司稱，所有24歲以下破產的人中女性占55%,而5年前只有48.3%。去年有1560名24歲以下的女性宣布破產,同年齡組的男性則是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.
威爾金斯肯尼迪的主任安東尼科克說:“5年前似乎是男人企圖擺脫金融債務的桎梏,而現在更可能是年輕女人不負責任地亂花錢。兩性之間的這種差異似乎正在擴大。”
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.”
他說年輕女性喜歡在外租房或者擁有自己的公寓以證明自己的獨立性,這樣對她們來說經濟上有不少壓力——問題是年輕的男性似乎受此影響較少。根據英國國家統計局的報告,20至34歲的男性中有29%現在還和父母住在一起，而年輕女性只有18%。科克還說許多單身的年輕女性，每月要拿出薪水中的大部分用來償還抵押貸款。銀行利率一變化，她們就容易受到影響,一旦失去工作,她們更容易破產。”
