‘It’s all fallen flat’: households earning more than ￡60,000 on how they are struggling financially
-Mortgages, bills and highest tax burden in 70 years pile on pressure despite healthy incomes

“這一切都是徒勞的”:收入超過6萬英鎊的家庭是如何在經濟上掙扎的
——盡管收入狀況良好，但抵押貸款、賬單和70年來最高的稅收負擔仍在增加壓力


(Despite incomes higher than the national average, some well-paid people say they are unable to fund a reasonable lifestyle.)

（盡管收入高于全國平均水平，但一些高收入人群表示，他們無法負擔合理的生活方式。）
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An annual gross income of ￡74,000 puts Scott, 28, a software engineer from Leicestershire, in the top 10% of earners nationally. But, he says, it doesn’t feel that way for him and his family.

現年28歲的斯科特是萊斯特郡的一名軟件工程師，年收入7.4萬英鎊，使他躋身全國收入最高的10%之列。但是，他說，他和他的家人并沒有這樣的感覺。

“Ten years ago we’d have been laughing with my salary. Now, it feels like our heads are barely above water. There’s an attitude that at this level of income you’ve plenty of money, but it’s not true at all,” he says.

“十年前，我們拿著我的薪水會笑得很開心。現在，感覺我們的頭勉強露出水面。有一種態(tài)度認為，在這種收入水平下，你已經很有錢了，但事實并非如此。”

The couple’s mortgage uses up more than a third of Scott’s take-home pay, the family’s monthly grocery shop costs more than ￡500, his student loan repayments are ￡300 – “money I now desperately need,” he says.

這對夫婦的抵押貸款占了斯科特實得工資的三分之一以上，家庭每月的雜貨支出超過500英鎊，他的學生貸款償還額為300英鎊——“我現在迫切需要錢，”他說。

“We lease a car, the cost of which has risen greatly too because of higher interest rates. After all the things I have to pay for, we’re lucky to have ￡300 left over for the month, which is quickly depleted by day-to-day expenses. It feels like we’ve done everything we were told to do and yet we’re still struggling,” Scott says.

“我們租了一輛車，由于利率上升，租車成本也大幅上升。在我必須支付的所有東西之后，我們很幸運這個月還剩下300英鎊，這些錢很快就被日常開支耗盡了。感覺我們已經做了所有我們被告知要做的事情，但我們仍然在掙扎，”斯科特說。

“I worked hard at university to gain a valuable degree, I job-hopped to drastically increase my salary – but it’s not enough. I’ve considered reducing my pension contribution just so we can have more money.

“我在大學里努力學習，獲得了一個有價值的學位，我跳槽是為了大幅提高我的薪水——但這還不夠。我考慮過減少我的養(yǎng)老金繳款，這樣我們就能有更多的錢。

“My wife, who had stopped working to care for our two children, both under five, has been looking for work for a few months, but the kind of work she needs just doesn’t exist – remote flexitime. We’ve actually considered moving to a different country because this one feels set up against families and young people.”

“我的妻子為了照顧兩個五歲以下的孩子而停止了工作，幾個月來她一直在找工作，但她需要的那種工作——遠程彈性工作時間的工作根本不存在。我們實際上考慮過搬到另一個國家，因為這個國家感覺與家庭和年輕人格格不入。”

He believes taxation has become punitively high: “I pay almost ￡2,000 a month in taxes, which I can’t actually afford.” The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is under pressure from voters such as Scott and many in his own party to use Wednesday’s budget to announce personal tax cuts, most likely to either national insurance contributions or the basic rate of income tax. But the chancellor’s scope for such a move has been restricted in recent days by tighter than expected forecasts, as well as warnings that public services cannot survive further austerity to pay for pre-election giveaways.

他認為，稅收已經高得離譜：“我每個月要交近2000英鎊的稅，實際上我負擔不起?！必斦蟪冀芾锩住ず嗵厥艿剿箍铺氐冗x民和黨內許多人的壓力，要求他利用周三的預算宣布個人減稅，最有可能是國家保險繳款或基本所得稅稅率。但最近幾天，這位大臣采取這一舉措的余地受到了限制，因為情況比預期的更緊，而且有警告稱，為了支付選舉前的“贈品”，公共服務無法在進一步的緊縮中存活下來。

Scott has been left feeling pessimistic about the future: “I don’t see an end to any of this: life isn’t going to get cheaper and I’ve pretty much maxed out my earning potential. It’s ridiculous and I’m so sick of it.

斯科特對未來感到悲觀：“我看不到這一切的結束：生活不會變得更便宜，我的收入潛力幾乎已經達到了極限。這太荒謬了，我受夠了。

“We can’t afford holidays. We can’t afford to put money away for the kids. We can’t afford new things, gadgets, hobbies. What’s it all for?”

“我們沒錢度假。我們負擔不起為孩子們存錢。我們買不起新東西，小玩意，愛好。這一切都是為了什么？”

Scott was just one of scores of middle-class earners who shared with the Guardian how they are struggling to cope financially and can no longer afford comfortable living standards despite having household incomes of between ￡60,000 and ￡120,000.

斯科特只是眾多中產階級中的一員，他們在接受《衛(wèi)報》采訪時表示，盡管家庭收入在6萬至12萬英鎊之間，但他們仍在努力應對經濟困難，再也負擔不起舒適的生活標準。

A report last month from the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust highlighted how Britain’s insecure jobs market and high housing costs are leading to the growth of a precarious middle class. These households are struggling to maintain a decent living standard on joint incomes as high as ￡60,000 a year. That compares with the median gross annual earnings for full-time employees of ￡34,963 last April.

英國abrdn金融公平信托基金上個月的一份報告強調，英國不穩(wěn)定的就業(yè)市場和高昂的住房成本正在導致一個不穩(wěn)定的中產階級的增長。這些家庭正以每年高達6萬英鎊的總收入掙扎著維持體面的生活水平。相比之下，去年4月全職員工的年總收入中值為34963英鎊。

Many readers who got in touch earn significantly more than this, but say they are still struggling to afford their bills and decent living standards due to rocketing mortgage, rental and childcare costs, higher household bills and the highest tax burden in 70 years.

許多與我們聯系的讀者的收入遠高于這個數字，但他們表示，由于抵押貸款、租金和兒童保育費用的飆升、家庭賬單的增加和70年來最高的稅負，他們仍然難以支付賬單和體面的生活水平。

Parents and single people in particular argue their relatively high incomes are not sufficient to fund a reasonable lifestyle while taxes are so high. Among them is Chloe, 38, who owns her own home with an ￡180,000 mortgage outstanding and earns ￡57,500 a year in a senior role a charity in Sheffield.

尤其是父母和單身人士認為，在稅收如此之高的情況下，他們相對較高的收入不足以支撐合理的生活方式。38歲的克洛伊就是其中之一，她擁有自己的房子，還欠著18萬英鎊的抵押貸款，在謝菲爾德的一家慈善機構擔任高級職務，年收入5.75萬英鎊。

“Over the past six to eight months I’ve really found myself struggling to make ends meet while also living a life completely devoid of any pleasure,” she says.

“在過去的六到八個月里，我真的發(fā)現自己在努力維持收支平衡，同時也活得完全沒有任何樂趣，”她說。

To save money, Chloe says, she has stopped drinking, eating takeaways and buying new clothes, as well as downgrading both her and her dog’s food. “I’ve also borrowed money from my parents, who were concerned by how little I was putting the heating on in my property and were worried it would cause damp.”

克洛伊說，為了省錢，她已經不再喝酒、不吃外賣、不買新衣服，還降低了她和她的狗糧的質量?！拔疫€向父母借了錢，他們擔心我的房子很少開暖氣，擔心這會導致潮濕?！?/b>

Chloe, who is single, says she worries about not being able to afford having children, and a social life. Her current contract comes to an end in six months. “I’m very limited in what I can do socially and couldn’t afford to go even one month without working. It’s so frustrating when you hear the government say: ‘You can work your way out of poverty.’

單身的克洛伊說，她擔心自己養(yǎng)不起孩子，也負擔不起社交生活。她目前的合同六個月后到期?！拔夷茏龅纳缃换顒臃浅Ｓ邢?，一個月不工作我都承受不起。當你聽到政府說：‘你可以通過工作擺脫貧困’時，你會感到非常沮喪。

“Work is not an answer when you’re taxing people at such a high level. I definitely think that the tax brackets should be reconsidered.”

“當你如此高水平地向人們征稅時，工作不是解決辦法。我絕對認為應該重新考慮稅率等級?！?/b>

Matt, 32, who works in housing policy, says his and his partner’s combined household income is about ￡80,000 a year. “We live just outside Newcastle upon Tyne and aren’t struggling, but I know that’s because we are – and I hate the term – Dinks: double income, no kids, and living in a part of the country where costs are relatively lower.

32歲的馬特在住房政策部門工作，他說他和他的伴侶的家庭年收入加起來大約是8萬英鎊?！拔覀兙妥≡谔┒骱优系募~卡斯爾郊外，生活并不艱難，但我知道這是因為我們是——我討厭這個詞——丁克族：雙職工收入，沒有孩子，生活在一個成本相對較低的地方。

“It does seem that the only way to be on a middle income and doing OK at the moment is to be a Dink and living in the north.”

“現在看來，要想保持中等收入并過得不錯，唯一的辦法就是做一個住在北方的丁克人?！?/b>
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Rose, 35, a thinktank project manager from south London and mother-of-one, strongly agrees. She earns ￡34,000 a year, her partner, who works in IT, makes ￡57,000.

35歲的羅斯是倫敦南部的一名智庫項目經理，也是一個孩子的母親，她非常贊同這種說法。她的年收入為3.4萬英鎊，她在IT行業(yè)工作的伴侶年收入為5.7萬英鎊。
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“The cost of living crisis is forcing us to move outside London,” Rose says. “After our son was born we moved to a two-bedroom flat in June 2022, paying ￡1,500. Our landlord increased the rent to ￡1,700 last May. We have not been going out since 2022. No dinners, Sunday roasts, or cinema.”

“生活成本危機迫使我們搬離倫敦，”羅斯說。“兒子出生后，我們在2022年6月搬到了一套兩居室公寓，花了1500英鎊。去年五月，我們的房東把房租漲到了1700英鎊。我們從2022年開始就沒有約會過。沒有晚餐，沒有周日烤肉，也沒有電影?！?/b>

Going on maternity leave, Rose says, pushed her into debt she is now repaying. Her son’s nursery bill, ￡1,200 a month for four days, became unaffordable when the rent went up. “He’s now in nursery only two days a week at ￡750 a month, and stays with me the rest of the time while I work compressed hours. Although my partner and I both work full-time, we basically earn to pay rent, utility bills, debt and childcare.”

羅斯說，休產假讓她背上了債務，現在她正在償還。她兒子的幼兒園費用是每月1200英鎊，為期4天，隨著房租上漲，這一費用變得難以承受。“他現在每周只上兩天托兒所，每月花費750英鎊，在我工作時間被壓縮的時候，他就跟在我身邊。雖然我和我的伴侶都是全職工作，但我們掙的錢基本上用來支付房租、水電費、債務和兒童保育費用。”

Although respondents with children reported more precarious finances than those without, millennial childless couples say they barely have any disposable income either.

盡管有孩子的受訪者表示，他們的財務狀況比沒有孩子的人更不穩(wěn)定，但千禧一代沒有孩子的夫婦表示，他們也幾乎沒有任何可支配收入。

Lillian, 36, from County Durham, an environmental consultant in the corporate sector says that despite her and her partner’s combined income of ￡70,000, they are experiencing substantial difficulties, as their doer-upper property has required repairs costing ￡25,000 so far.

36歲的莉蓮來自達勒姆郡，是一名企業(yè)環(huán)境顧問。她說，盡管她和丈夫的總收入為7萬英鎊，但他們正經歷著巨大的困難，因為他們的高層房屋目前需要花費2.5萬英鎊進行維修。
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“We just feel caught in the middle,” she says. “We find ourselves surviving from paycheck to paycheck, have no savings except pensions. We’ve worked hard, done everything we can to build ourselves up financially, have professional careers, but it’s all fallen flat.”

“我們只是覺得陷入困境，”她說?！拔覀儼l(fā)現自己只能月光，除了養(yǎng)老金沒有任何積蓄。我們努力工作，盡我們所能建立自己的財務，有職業(yè)生涯，但這一切都落空了?！?/b>

While the couple was fortunate to get a five-year fixed-rate mortgage in the pandemic at only 2%, they are dreading the cost increase when they will have to renew it next year now that the Bank of England base rate has soared to 5.25%.

雖然這對夫婦很幸運，在疫情期間獲得了僅2%的五年期固定利率抵押貸款，但由于英格蘭銀行的基本利率已飆升至5.25%，他們擔心明年不得不續(xù)簽貸款時成本會增加。

Lillian fears having to work into her 80s. “The Tories have done a lot to erode the benefits of working, from Brexit to interest rates, but I don’t know that I trust any party to improve that. We definitely need a lot more public spending, but it cannot come from my income bracket; we’re completely squeezed.”

莉蓮害怕工作到80多歲?！皬挠摎W到利率，保守黨已經做了很多事情來侵蝕工作的好處，但我不知道我相信某個政黨能改善這一點。我們當然需要更多的公共支出，但這不能來自我的收入階層；我們完全被榨光了?！?/b>

Lillian believes it should be people such as Lee, 47, a father of four from Surrey who works in tech, who should pay more taxes. Earning about ￡110,000, he is in the top 2% of earners. “I earn more than I ever did before now and feel very privileged,” he says. “And yet, I feel much poorer now than I did six or seven years ago, when I was only on ￡50,000, which is crazy.”

莉蓮認為，像李這樣的人應該繳納更多的稅——李47歲，是四個孩子的父親，來自薩里郡，從事科技工作。他的年收入約為11萬英鎊，屬于收入最高的2%。他說：“我現在賺的錢比以往任何時候都多，我感到非常榮幸。然而，我覺得現在比六七年前窮多了，當時我只有5萬英鎊，這太瘋狂了?！?/b>
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His wife works part-time as a childminder earning about ￡700 a month as they cannot afford childcare, Lee says. Like many other respondents, Lee believes in paying taxes, but feels resentful given the state of public services.

他的妻子兼職做保姆，每月收入約700英鎊，因為他們負擔不起托兒費用，李說。與許多其他受訪者一樣，李認為應該納稅，但考慮到公共服務的現狀，他感到不滿。

“Nothing works. You think – where is all this money going? Nothing is getting better. Something’s gotta change.

“啥都沒效果。你想想，這些錢都去哪兒了？一切都沒有好轉。有些事情必須改變。

“It’s weird when papers describe the rich and I think – ‘is it people like me?’ I feel jealous of other people when they go on holiday, we can’t afford that. I shop at Aldi, we budget ￡1,000 a month for food and petrol for our 10-year-old car. We occasionally go to Wetherspoon’s for breakfast. I often think: ‘Is this it?’”

“當報紙描述富人時，我覺得很奇怪——‘是像我這樣的人嗎？’當別人去度假時，我會嫉妒他們，我們負擔不起。我在阿爾迪購物，我們每個月的食品和汽油預算為1000英鎊，我們的車開了10年。我們偶爾去威瑟斯彭吃早餐。我經常想：‘這就是富人生活嗎？’”