2022年12月02日 VOA慢速英語(yǔ)：韓國(guó)陷入人口危機(jī)，許多人停止生育

 

Many adults in South Korea have chosen either not to have children or not to marry. Similar things are happening in other developed countries, but many consider South Korea's population crisis severe.
韓國(guó)許多成年人要么選擇不生育，要么選擇不結(jié)婚。其他發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家也發(fā)生了類似的事情，但許多人認(rèn)為韓國(guó)的人口危機(jī)很嚴(yán)重。
 
A South Korean government agency announced in September that the total fertility rate reached 0.81 last year. The total fertility rate is the average number of babies born to each woman in their reproductive years. South Korea's fertility rate has been the world's lowest for three years now.
韓國(guó)政府機(jī)構(gòu)9月宣布，去年的總和生育率達(dá)到0.81?？偤蜕适敲總€(gè)婦女在育齡期平均生育的嬰兒數(shù)。韓國(guó)的生育率已經(jīng)連續(xù)三年處于世界最低水平。
 
The population decreased for the first time in 2021. It raised concerns for severe damage to the economy. Some observers expect labor shortages and high spending on retirement payments as the number of older people increases while the number of taxpayers decreases.
人口在 2021 年首次減少。這引發(fā)了人們對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)嚴(yán)重受損的擔(dān)憂。一些觀察人士預(yù)計(jì)，隨著老年人數(shù)量增加而納稅人數(shù)量減少，將出現(xiàn)勞動(dòng)力短缺和退休金支出高企的情況。
 
President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered policymakers to find better ways to deal with the problem. The fertility rate, he said, is still decreasing although South Korea spent $210 billion over the past 16 years to increase it.
韓國(guó)總統(tǒng)尹錫烈已下令政策制定者尋找更好的方法來(lái)解決這個(gè)問(wèn)題。他說(shuō)，盡管韓國(guó)在過(guò)去 16 年中花費(fèi)了 2100 億美元來(lái)提高生育率，但生育率仍在下降。
 
Many young South Koreans say that, unlike their parents and grandparents, they do not feel an obligation to have a family. Reasons some say for not having children include: a difficult job market, costly housing, inequality between the sexes, and social inequality.
許多年輕的韓國(guó)人說(shuō)，與他們的父母和祖父母不同，他們不覺(jué)得有家庭的義務(wù)。有人說(shuō)不生孩子的原因包括：就業(yè)市場(chǎng)困難、住房昂貴、性別不平等和社會(huì)不平等。
 
Some also say the high cost of raising children in a competitive society is a reason. Some women say men expect them to do much of the childcare while they face discrimination at work.
也有人說(shuō)，在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈的社會(huì)中養(yǎng)育孩子的成本高也是一個(gè)原因.一些女性表示，她們?cè)诠ぷ髦忻媾R歧視時(shí)，卻希望男性承擔(dān)大部分的育兒工作。
 
Lee So-Young is a population policy expert at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. She said, "People think our country isn't an easy place to live." And she added, "They believe their children can't have better lives than them, and so question why they should bother to have babies."
Lee So-Young 是韓國(guó)衛(wèi)生與社會(huì)事務(wù)研究所的人口政策專家。她說(shuō)，“人們認(rèn)為我們的國(guó)家不是一個(gè)容易居住的地方。”她補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，“他們認(rèn)為他們的孩子不可能過(guò)上比他們更好的生活，所以質(zhì)疑他們?yōu)槭裁匆M(fèi)心生孩子。”
 
Choi Yoon Kyung is an expert at the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. She said many people who fail to enter good schools and get good jobs feel they have become "dropouts" who "cannot be happy." They feel that way even if they marry and have children because South Korea lacks social spending programs. She said South Korea failed to establish such programs during its economic growth in the 1960s to the 1980s.
Choi Yoon Kyung 是韓國(guó)兒童保育和教育研究所的專家。她說(shuō)，很多沒(méi)能考上好學(xué)校、找不到好工作的人，覺(jué)得自己成了“無(wú)法幸福”的“輟學(xué)生”。即使他們結(jié)婚生子，他們也會(huì)有這種感覺(jué)，因?yàn)轫n國(guó)缺乏社會(huì)支出計(jì)劃。她說(shuō)，韓國(guó)在 1960 年代至 80 年代的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)期間未能建立此類計(jì)劃。
 
There are no official numbers on how many South Koreans have chosen not to marry or have children. But records from one national agency show there were about 193,000 marriages in South Korea last year. That is a big drop from the highest point of 430,000 in 1996.
沒(méi)有關(guān)于有多少韓國(guó)人選擇不結(jié)婚或不生孩子的官方數(shù)字。但一家國(guó)家機(jī)構(gòu)的記錄顯示，去年韓國(guó)大約有 193,000 對(duì)婚姻。與 1996 年的最高點(diǎn) 430,000 相比大幅下降。
 
Agency information also says about 260,600 babies were born in South Korea last year, down from 691,200 in 1996. The highest level was 1 million babies in 1971. The recent numbers were the lowest since the agency began collecting such information in 1970.
機(jī)構(gòu)信息還稱，去年韓國(guó)出生的嬰兒約為 260,600，低于 1996 年的 691,200。最高水平為 100 萬(wàn)嬰兒1971 年。最近的數(shù)字是該機(jī)構(gòu)自 1970 年開(kāi)始收集此類信息以來(lái)的最低值。
 
Until the mid-1990s, South Korea had birth control programs, which the government started to slow the country's population increase after the Korean War. The government gave out birth control drugs and devices for free at public medical centers. It also offered men exemptions from some required military service if they had a medical operation that prevents fertility.
直到 20 世紀(jì) 90 年代中期，韓國(guó)才實(shí)行計(jì)劃生育計(jì)劃，政府在朝鮮戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)后開(kāi)始減緩該國(guó)的人口增長(zhǎng)。政府在公共醫(yī)療中心免費(fèi)發(fā)放避孕藥和裝置。如果男性接受了阻止生育的醫(yī)療手術(shù)，它還允許男性免除一些必要的兵役。
 
United Nations information shows that the average South Korean woman gave birth to about four to six children in the 1950s and ‘60s, three to four in the 1970s, and fewer than two by the mid-1980s.
聯(lián)合國(guó)的資料顯示，韓國(guó)女性在 1950 年代平均生育大約 4 到 6 個(gè)孩子， 60 年代，70 年代有三到四個(gè)，到 80 年代中期不到兩個(gè)。
 
South Korea has been offering different incentives and support programs for those who give birth to many children. But Choi said the fertility rate has been falling too fast to see any real effects. During a government meeting last month, officials said they would soon have to propose new measures to deal with the population decrease.
韓國(guó)一直在為生育多子的人提供不同的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)和支持計(jì)劃。但崔表示，生育率下降得太快，看不到任何實(shí)際影響。在上個(gè)月的一次政府會(huì)議上，官員們表示他們很快將不得不提出新的措施來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)人口減少的問(wèn)題。
 
Yoo Young Yi is a financial worker in Seoul. She said that until she went to college, she strongly wanted a baby. But she changed her mind when she saw female coworkers concerned about their children or leaving early when their children were sick. She said her male coworkers did not have to do this. She said she then thought her ability to work would decrease if she had babies.
Yoo Young Yi 是首爾的一名金融工作者。她說(shuō)，在她上大學(xué)之前，她非常想要一個(gè)孩子。但當(dāng)她看到女同事關(guān)心孩子或孩子生病時(shí)提前離開(kāi)時(shí)，她改變了主意。她說(shuō)她的男同事不必這樣做。她說(shuō)她當(dāng)時(shí)認(rèn)為如果她有了孩子，她的工作能力就會(huì)下降。
 
Her 34-year-old husband, Jo Jun Hwi, said he does not think having children is necessary. He works at an information technology company. Jo said he wants to enjoy his life after getting a job made him "feel like I was standing on the edge of a cliff."
她 34 歲的丈夫 Jo Jun Hwi 說(shuō)他認(rèn)為沒(méi)有必要生孩子。他在一家信息技術(shù)公司工作。 Jo 說(shuō)他想在找到一份工作后享受生活，這讓他“感覺(jué)自己站在懸崖邊上。”
 
But 38-year-old Seo Ji Seong said she is often called a patriot by older people for having many babies although she has not thought of it that way. She is expecting her fifth baby in January.
但 38 歲的 Seo Ji Seong 說(shuō)她經(jīng)常被稱為一個(gè)愛(ài)國(guó)者，因?yàn)樗撕芏嗪⒆?，雖然她沒(méi)有這么想過(guò)。她將在一月份迎來(lái)她的第五個(gè)孩子。
 
Her husband said he enjoys seeing each of his children growing up, while Seo values their development at home.
她的丈夫說(shuō)他很高興看到他的每個(gè)孩子都在成長(zhǎng)，而Seo也很重視他們?cè)诩依锏某砷L(zhǎng)。
 
"They are all so cute. That's why I've kept giving birth to babies even though it's difficult," Seo added.
“他們都很可愛(ài)，這就是為什么我一直在生孩子，盡管很困難”徐補(bǔ)充道。