VOA慢速英语2021 中国全面放开三胎应对出生率下降

China's government has raised the child limit for couples from two to three as the country experiences lower birth rates.

随着中国出生率降低，政府已经将夫妇生育限制从二孩提高到三孩。

For many years, China enforced¹ a one-child policy as a way to control the population. But that policy was replaced in 2016 with a two-child limit. That change was aimed at raising the number of births as the country faced a fast aging population.

中国多年来一直实行独生子女政策作为控制人口的一种手段。但是该政策在2016年被二孩政策所取代。由于该国面临人口快速老龄化，这一变化旨在提高出生人数。

But birth rates have further decreased in recent years as the cost of raising children in Chinese cities remains² high.

但是由于中国城市养育孩子的成本居高不下，近年来出生率进一步下降。

The latest measure to permit three children per family is meant "to actively³ deal with the aging population," the official Xinhua News Agency⁴ reported. The decision came during a ruling Communist Party meeting led by President Xi Jinping, it said.

中国官方的新华社报道称，每个家庭允许生育3个孩子的最新政策是为了积极应对人口老龄化。报道称，这一决定是在习近平主席主持的一次中共中央政治局会议上做出的。

The policy includes what the government calls "supportive measures" to make it easier for families to have more children. The measures include plans to lower educational costs for families and increase tax and housing⁵ support. The government also said it would seek to educate young people "on marriage and love."

该政策包括政府所谓的配套支持措施，以使家庭更容易养育更多孩子。这些措施包括计划降低家庭教育成本支出以及加强税收和住房支持。政府还表示将寻求对年轻人进行婚恋观教育。

Recent data showed that China's fertility⁶ rate -- the average number of births per mother -- was 1.3 in 2020. That rate – which is similar to aging nations like Japan and Italy – is well short of the 2.1 needed to replace the population.

最新数据显示，2020年中国生育率，及每名母亲的平均生育率为1.3。该生育率跟日本和意大利等老龄化国家接近，远低于人口迭代所需的2.1的生育率。

Yifei Li is a sociologist⁷ at New York University Shanghai. She told Reuters that most families did not hold back on having children in recent years because of the government's two-child policy. Instead, she said they held off because of "the incredibly high costs of raising children in today's China."

李逸飞是上海纽约大学的一名社会学家。她对路透社表示，近年来大多数家庭并不是因为政府的二孩政策而抑制生育。相反，她说他们之所以迟迟不敢生育，是因为如今在中国养育孩子的成本非常高。

Zhang Xinyu is a 30-year-old mother of one from Zhengzhou in northeastern China. She said another problem was that women carried most of the responsibility for raising children.

张欣语（音译）是中国郑州市一位30岁年龄的母亲。她说，另一个问题是女性承担了抚养孩子的大部分责任。

She added, "I don't want to have a second child. And a third is even more impossible."

她还表示：“我不想生二胎，三胎更是不可能。”

Economists⁸ say that China, along with Thailand and some other Asian economies, faces concerns that it could grow old before it gets wealthy.

经济学家表示，中国和泰国以及一些亚洲经济体都面临自己可能会未富先老的担忧。

The Chinese population of 1.4 billion was already expected to reach a high later this decade before starting to drop. But recent government data suggested that is happening faster than expected. Experts say this adds to pressures on underfinanced retirement⁹ and health systems and cuts the number of future workers available to support a growing retiree group.

中国14亿人口原本预计将在本世纪二十年代末期达到顶峰然后开始下降。但是政府最新数据表明，这种情况发生的速度超出了预期。专家表示，这增加了养老和医疗体系资金不足的压力，并减少了可用于支撑不断增长的退休群体的未来工人的数量。

The share of China's working-age people 15 to 59 fell to 63.3 percent last year from 70 percent a decade earlier. The group aged¹⁰ 65 and older grew to 13.5 percent from nearly 9 percent. The country's reported 12 million births last year was down nearly one-fifth from 2019.

中国15至59岁劳动人口的比例从10年前的70%降至去年的63.3%。65岁及以上年龄群体从近9%增长到13.5%。该国去年报告的出生人数为1200万，比2019年下降了近五分之一。

Chinese researchers and the Labor¹¹ Ministry¹² say the share of working-age people might fall to half the population by 2050. That increases the "dependency ratio," the number of retirees who depend on each worker to pay into retirement programs and to pay taxes for health and other public services.

中国研究人员和中国人力资源和社会保障部（原劳动部）表示，到2050年，劳动人口比例可能会下降到总人口的一半。这会增加抚养比，即依靠每个工人缴纳养老和医疗以及其它公共服务的退休人员人数。

Party leaders at the meeting also agreed on the need to start delaying retirement ages for citizens, Xinhua reported, without providing details. The government has been debating changes in the current retirement ages of 60 for men, 55 for professional female¹³ workers and 50 for blue-collar females¹⁴.

据新华社报道，与会党领导人还同意有必要开始推迟公民退休年龄，但是并未透露细节。政府一直在讨论修改目前男性60岁，女干部55岁以及女工人50岁的退休年龄。

1 enforced   

n.强迫的v.实施( enforce的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；强迫；强制执行

参考例句：

• a period of enforced absence 不得不离开的一段时间
• This reform must be enforced. 此项改革势在必行。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

4 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

5 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

6 fertility   

n.肥沃；繁殖力

参考例句：

• A green manure is a crop grown mainly to improve soil fertility.种植绿肥作物主要是为使土壤更加肥沃。
• She is taking drugs to increase her fertility.她为了增强她的生殖能力而在服药。

7 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

8 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

14 females   

n.雌性动物( female的名词复数 )；女人

参考例句：

• The male birds are more colourful than the females. 这种鸟雄性比雌性更加色彩艳丽。
• The males in the herd protect the females and the young. 兽中的雄性动物保护雌性动物和幼崽。 来自《简明英汉词典》