評論
打印
Welfare reform
福利改革
Bedrooms and brickbats
睡房與碎磚
The bedroom tax will probably survive
睡房稅很可能延續
ON A sunny spring morning, a small group of protesters wait at the Department of Work and Pensions with a giant card for Iain Duncan Smith. It is his birthday. But the card also marks a year since the introduction of the “bedroom tax”, as opposition politicians call the welfare secretary's scheme to encourage people in subsidised social housing to move to smaller properties. “One year on and still causing misery”, it reads.
在一個陽光明媚的早晨，一小群人帶著巨大的宣傳板，上面畫著伊安.杜肯.史密斯，來到就業與養老金部大門前。當日是部長的生日。此畫板標志著“睡房稅”已經實行了一年。這是政治反對派們對史密斯福利計劃的戲稱。福利大臣想動員民眾從接受補貼的社會房屋搬到小點的房子中。板上寫著“實施一年了，依然生貧致困”。
Since 2010, the coalition has introduced plenty of changes to the welfare system. But few are as unpopular as the bedroom tax (officially, the “removal of the spare-room subsidy”). According to Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, it symbolises an “out-of-touch, uncaring Tory government that stands up for the privileged few”. In February the nationalists in Scotland triumphantly scrapped it. The Liberal Democrats are split by it. Yet despite the tide of anger, it will probably survive.
2010年以來，執政聯盟對福利系統進行了大刀闊斧的改革。沒有幾個項目像“睡房稅”一樣惹人討厭（官方的說法，“取消閑置房屋的補貼”）。據工黨黨首文立彬說，這標志著“脫離群眾，對大眾利益漠不關心的保守黨政府公然倒向特權階層了”。二月份，蘇格蘭的民族主義執政黨廢除了該政策。而自由民主黨內部也對此政策看法不一。盡管群情激憤，該計劃十有八九會延續下去。
Before April 2013 tenants with spare rooms got enough housing benefit to cover their full rent. Since then, they have had to pay for them themselves. On average, that means finding another 14 per week, typically out of other welfare benefits—which are hardly generous to begin with.The government says this is fair because people “underoccupying” their homes are preventing larger families from using the space more fully. The charge encourages tenants with spare bedrooms to downsize—or to rent them out. It is also meant to cut around 360m per year from the benefits bill.
2013年八月以前，租了空房的住客可以拿到足夠的房屋補貼來抵消其全部房租。從那以后，他們只好自己付房租了。平均算起來，這意味著每周得額外拿出14英鎊，這些錢往往從其他福利收益中節省出來。而這些福利補貼往往本來就沒多少。該政府認為，這很公平，因為百姓“空置”其房屋就是為了阻礙有更多成員的家庭充分利用房屋空間。該命令鼓勵租用多間房屋的住戶搬到更小的房子里——或者將多余房屋轉出。這也意味著每年能從補貼賬單中節省3600萬英鎊。
Whether it can do so depends largely on people being able to move. So far just 6% of those affected have done, according to a BBC survey. A high proportion live in post-industrial northern towns, where councils own plenty of 1950s and 1960s family homes but comparatively few smaller flats. In Liverpool, for example, 24% of social tenants are affected by the policy. In Westminster, by contrast, where there is enormous demand for housing, the figure is just 5%.
節流能否實現取決于人們多大程度上愿意挪窩。到目前為止，據BBC調查，目標群體中只有6%受到影響。其中大部分都住在北部衰落的工業區城鎮中。城鎮委員會手握大量1950s-1960s相對較小的單套住房。例如，利物浦那里24%的社會租戶受到此項政策影響。威斯敏斯特則相反，房屋需求旺盛，社會租戶只占5%。
Yet the numbers of people affected is falling. When the policy came into effect last April, 560,000 households were hit. By November, that had fallen to around 500,000. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), a charity, explains the shortfall. Some people had found work; some had reached retirement age, whereupon the scheme no longer applies. And more may now be moving. Mutual exchanges—where tenants swap council homes with each other—appear to have taken off. Meanwhile, some housing associations and councils are buying smaller homes and selling large ones.
但目標人群的數量在下降。政策在去年四月生效的時候，560，000的家庭在調控之內。到了十一月份，數量已經下降到約500，000。朗特里慈善基金會（JRF）對此有解釋：一些百姓找到了工作；一些到了退休年齡，計劃也就不再適用了。更多的民眾正另尋他所?；セ萁粨Q，即租戶互換其委員會名下的房屋，似乎已經開動了。同時，一些房屋聯合組織和委員會正在購買小面積的房屋，而將大的房屋賣掉。
Scrapping the tax outright could undo some of these improvements. Steve Wilcox, the author of the JRF's report, suggests tweaks that would make it work better. Exempting tenants with severe disabilities, who may need a room for a carer or equipment, would help. They currently have to apply for emergency funds from local authorities: a messy, bureaucratic process. So too would boosting that pot of money.
直接取消睡房稅就會阻礙其中某些改良。朗特里基金會報告的主筆史蒂夫·威爾科克斯就建議對計劃稍微改進就能讓它事半功倍。把身患殘疾因而需要一間房給看護人員或設備的租戶免除在外就會有幫助。他們現在不得不申請地方政府設立的緊急基金：這個官僚化的程序往往一團亂麻。這樣做也能支持那一大筆節省的目標。
Such pragmatism will not appeal to the Labour Party. For Mr Miliband, the bedroom tax is a helpful springboard for a wider war on welfare reform. Yet if elected in 2015, he too will want to cut the deficit. Tweaks might then be welcome.
但這些實用主義的策略對工黨毫無吸引力。對文立彬來說，睡房稅是就福利改革問題進行更大規模的斗爭的一塊有利跳板。但如果2015年能競選成功，他也會削減赤字。那時改進措施可能就會有支持了。 翻譯：王化起 校對：邵靈玲
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