一支国际科学家团队预计，
2030
年出生的韩国女性平均寿命将达到
90
岁。然而，根据经济合作与发展组织数据，有近一半
65
岁以上的韩国国民仍处于相对贫困状态。尽管韩国有较好的医疗保障，但其他方面的保障却不足，这使得预期寿命增加的同时，近半老年人生活处于较低水平。
韩国不平等悖论：健康长寿却生活贫困
译者：赵萌萌&徐嘉茵
校对：李苏苑
策划：邹世昌
South Korea’s inequality paradox: long life, good health and poverty
韩国不平等悖论：健康长寿却生活贫困
本文选自
The Guardian
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How is it possible that a country responsible for impressive gains in healthcare and nutrition finds itself with nearly half its older citizens living in relative poverty?
一个国家，它的医疗体系和营养状况有了明显改善，但是却有近一半的老年人仍处于相对贫困状态，这怎么可能呢？
Earlier this year, an international team of scientists made the
stunning
prediction that women in South Korea born in 2030 can expect to live, on average, until they are 90, taking them past Japan to the summit of the global longevity table.
今年早些时候，一支国际科学家团队作出
令人震惊
的预计，即2030年出生的韩国女性平均寿命将达到90岁，使其超过日本直接成为全球寿命表的峰值。
The study, published in
the Lancet
, marked the first time average lifespans for men or women anywhere in the world have exceeded nine decades.
该研究发表于
医学期刊《柳叶刀》
，标志着全球人类平均寿命首次超过90岁。
South Koreans, it forecast, will experience the biggest rise in life expectancy in the industrialised world, with women adding 6.6 years to their average lifespan by 2030 compared with 2010. The prognosis was similarly encouraging for South Korean men, who will
edge ahead of
other nations with a life expectancy of 84.
韩国方面预测将迎来工业化世界预期寿命的最大增长幅度，与2010年相比，到2030年，女性的平均寿命将增加6.6年。对于韩国男性而言，预测结果同样激励人心。韩国男性的预期寿命将
领先
其他国家，达到84岁。
The findings underlined South Korea’s emergence from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean war and its transformation into a successful exporter of everything from consumer electronics and smartphones to
kimchi
and
K-Pop
.
研究结果强调，韩国从1950年至1953年的朝鲜战争灰烬中崛起，转型成为成功的出口大国。其出口产品从消费性电子产品，智能手机到
泡菜
，
韩国流行音乐
，不一而足。
But the report also exposed a paradox. While South Korea’s soaring rise in life expectancy is expected to continue, almost half of its citizens aged over 65 now live in relative poverty, according to
OECD
data.
但该报告也揭露了一种悖论。
经济合作与发展组织
数据显示，韩国的预期寿命有望持续激增，但有近一半65岁以上的国民仍处于相对贫困状态。
OECD
：经济合作与发展组织（英语：Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development），简称经合组织（OECD），是由35个市场经济国家组成的政府间国际经济组织，旨在共同应对全球化带来的经济、社会和政府治理等方面的挑战，并把握全球化带来的机遇。成立于1961年，目前成员国总数35个，总部设在巴黎。
The survey found that 48.6% of South Korea’s elderly were in poverty (defined as earning 50% or less of median household income) in 2011, the highest level among the 34 OECD countries.
调查报告发现，2011年，有48.6%的韩国老年人处于贫困中（收入小于或等于家庭收入中位数的50%则为贫困），这在34个经合组织成员国中是最高水平。
About a quarter of them live alone, and high levels of isolation and depression have led to a dramatic rise in elderly suicide, from 34 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 72 in 2010.
Anecdotal
evidence suggests many decide to take their own lives to avoid becoming a burden to their families.
在这些老年人中，约有四分之一独居，孤立和抑郁的高发已使老人自杀率急剧增加，从2000年的0.34‰上升至2010年的0.72‰。据
坊间传闻
，有许多老年人决定自杀以避免成为家庭负担。
anecdotal
[,ænɪk'dəʊtl] [adj.] 轶闻的、传闻的
“Life expectancy here has grown faster than in any other country in the world,” says Shin Kwang-yeong, a professor of sociology at
Chung-Ang University
in Seoul. “But the speed of ageing has been so fast that the majority of elderly people here now live in relative poverty.”
“韩国的预期寿命增长得比其他国家都快，”首尔
中央大学
的社会学教授申光龙说道，“但老龄化的速度过快，使得大部分老年人如今生活在贫困中。”
No savings and no family support
没有存款，没有家庭支持
At
Tapgol Park
in Seoul, dozens of people form a line to receive free lunches at a facility run by a Buddhist temple. Above the entrance is a sign that reads: “You are our hope.”
在首尔
塔古公园
，几十个人排成一队在佛寺管理的场所领取免费午餐。入口上方的标语写着：“你是我们的希望。”
The cafeteria, which is open all year round, used to serve about 140 people a day, but the number has risen recently to more than 200, says Kang So-yoon, a volunteer.
这家自助餐厅全年开放，过去一天接待140人左右，但最近接待人数已超过200人，志愿者康昭允说道。
“The main reason is because the economy is in bad shape and older people are struggling to find work,” she says. “For some, this is the only meal they will have all day. If they don’t have children to look after them, we are all they have. They’d have to beg on the street otherwise.”
“主要原因在于经济态势不好，老年人很难找到工作，”她说道，“对于一些人而言，这是他们一天中唯一的一顿饭。如果没有子女照顾他们，我们就是照顾他们的人。否则他们就要在街上乞讨了。”
Ironically, part of the reason for their
plight
may be the cost of supporting their own offspring. “While they were still working,” says Shin, “many elderly people were unable to put aside enough savings for later in life because they spent too much on their children’s education.”
令人感到讽刺的是，造成他们这种
困境
的原因之一可能是抚养子女的开销。“尽管他们一直在工作，”申教授说，“但许多老年人无法为日后生活留有足够的储蓄，因为他们花了太多钱为子女供书教学。”
A woman in her late 70s says she can’t afford to feed herself on her pension. “I come here for free meals,” says the woman, who declines to give her name. “My children can’t help me because they are struggling financially themselves. I don’t want much, but a bit more money every month would be a great help.”
一位快八十岁的老妇人表示，她无法靠养老金维持生计。“我来这里是为了免费食物，”这位拒绝透露姓名的妇人说，“我的孩子帮不了我，因为他们也在艰难维持生计。我想要的不多，每月的一点钱也能帮很大的忙。”
The traditional expectation that children will perform their
filial duty
and look after their parents in old age has stifled the emergence of a welfare state able to cope with South Korea’s rapidly ageing society, according to Shin.
申教授认为，主张子女会尽
孝道
，照顾年迈的父母的传统观点已将一个能处理韩国快速老龄化社会问题的福利国家的崛起扼杀在摇篮中。
“Traditionally, observance of
Confucian ethics
meant it was taken for granted that children would look after their elderly parents,” he explains. “But the family unit has undergone a tremendous transformation. Far fewer old people in South Korea live with their married children than in, say, Japan. And the increasing polarisation of South Korean society means it is getting harder for adult children to support their parents financially.”
“传统上，遵守
儒家伦理
意味着子女照顾年迈父母是理所应当的事，”他解释道，“但家庭已经历巨大转变。比方说，在韩国，与已经成家的子女住在一起的老人远比日本的要少。韩国社会日益增长的两极化态势也意味着成年子女更加难以给予父母经济支持。”
Outside the cafe, the neighbourhood’s auxiliary
“silver” economy
is in full flow, with cheap second-hand watches, jewellery and clothes laid out on the pavement encircling the park. Every now and then, an old man or woman passes by pulling rickety wooden handcarts loaded with piles of collected cardboard and paper they can sell for a few thousand won a day.
餐厅外，
“银发”经济
作为该社区的辅助经济，发展正旺，廉价二手手表、珠宝、衣服就放在公园外边的人行道上。不时有老爷爷或老奶奶拉着摇晃的木板车经过，上边放满了收来的纸箱和废纸，一天能卖几千韩币（1000韩币约为6元）。
Silver economy
: 银发经济指的是随着社会的老龄化而产生的专门为老年人消费服务的产业。
Among the park’s regular visitors is Kim Jin-yang, a 72-year-old who fought in the Vietnam war, receives a veteran’s payment on top of his basic pension and has developed health problems caused by exposure to
Agent Orange
.
除了基本的退休金，72岁的越战老兵金振阳还经常来公园领取退伍抚恤金。因为越战时暴露在了
橙剂
中，他的身体健康出现了问题。
Agent Orange
: 一种高效落叶剂，因其容器的标志条纹为橙色，故名“橙剂”(Agent Orange)。越南战争期间美军用低空慢速飞行的飞机喷洒于被判断为共产党武装人员藏身之地的森林、丛林和其他植被上，使树木等植物落叶。橙剂生产过程中会产生微量有毒杂质四氯双苯二恶英，对人体有害。
“I served my country, yet I got next to nothing from the government,” says Kim, who worked in logistics alongside American troops. “But I have adjusted my lifestyle according to my means, and I can just about get by.”
金振阳曾跟随美军的后勤部队工作，他表示，“我为我的国家效力，但政府却几乎什么都没给我。但我根据收入调整了我的生活方式，所以还能过得下去。”
Affordable universal healthcare
可负担的全民医疗
The financial plight of older South Koreans emerged as a key issue in May’s presidential election, which was won by the left-leaning former human rights lawyer, Moon Jae-in.
五月份的总统竞选中，韩国老年人的经济困境成为了关键问题。左翼人权律师文在寅赢得了该届总统选举。
Moon, whose victory was due in part to public anger over the rising income gap and record youth unemployment under his conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye, has made welfare reform a priority.
文在寅得胜的原因之一在于，公众对前任保守派总统朴槿惠治下出现的日益加大的收入差距以及年轻人高失业率很不满。他把福利改革作为了重中之重。
He has pledged to raise the basic pension from just over 200,000 won (138 GBP) to 300,000 won per month, and to double the number of job openings for older workers to 800,000, coupled with significant monthly wage increases. He also plans to subsidise the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, make more money available for caregivers, and increase social housing provision for elderly people.
文在寅承诺，将基本退休金从每月20万韩币（约合1200元人民币）提到30万韩币（约合1800元人民币），把提供给老年人的工作数量加倍，增加到80万份，同时大幅增加每月工资。他还计划资助阿尔兹海默症和其他痴呆症的治疗，提高护理人员工资，增加对老年人的住房供应。
Like Japan, South Korea is expected to undergo rapid demographic change in the coming decades–with the proportion of over-65s predicted to increase dramatically to 40% of the population by 2060, compared to 13% today, according to Statistics Korea.
正如日本，在接下来的数十年中，韩国也将经历快速的人口结构变化。根据韩国统计局数据显示，至2060年，65岁以上的老年人所占比例预计将从现在的13%大幅增至40%。
“Over the last 20 years, the rate of increase of life expectancy in South Korea has been very steep, with no indication of slowing down; hence the high levels projected in 2030,” says Dr Vasilis Kontis, the longevity study’s lead author.
长寿研究的第一作者Vasilis Kontis博士表示，“过去二十年间，韩国的寿命增长速率上升速度很快，没有丝毫慢下来的迹象，所以到了2030会达到高水平。”
Kontis, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, agrees there is an “apparent contradiction” between the country’s pre-eminent life expectancy projections, and its relative poverty data.
