生活成本危机：英国失业救济金价值出现50年来最大降幅-Scheduled 3.1% rise in state pension and benefits fails to keep up with 8% hike in prices of essentials and energy
生活成本危机：英国失业救济金价值出现50年来最大降幅
——国家养老金和福利计划上调3.1%，但未能跟上生活必需品和能源价格8%的涨幅
(Prices of basic essentials, from food to fuel, are soaring.)
（从食品到燃料等基本必需品的价格正在飙升。）
新闻：
Claimants of unemployment benefits will see the biggest fall in the value of their payments in 50 years on Monday, anti-poverty campaigners have said, as Britons grapple with the worst cost of living crisis since 1972.
反贫困运动人士称，周一，英国将迎来自1972年以来最严重的生活成本危机，申领失业救济金的人将面临50年来最大幅度的收入下降。
Despite everyday prices rising as much as 8%, and gas and electricity bills almost doubling to £2,000 a year, the state pension and most other state benefits will rise by 3.1% on Monday.
尽管日常物价上涨高达8%，天然气和电费几乎翻了一番，达到每年2000英镑，但国家养老金和大多数其他国家福利将在周一只上涨3.1%。
Charities, Labour and others have called on the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to do more to help those on middle and low incomes get through the crisis.
慈善机构、工党和其他人都呼吁财政大臣里希·苏纳克采取更多措施帮助中低收入人群度过危机。
So far ministers have resisted calls to restore the £20-a-week uplift to universal credit that was introduced during the pandemic but then removed just as prices started rising dramatically last autumn.
到目前为止，大臣们一直抵制恢复每周20英镑的普遍信贷上调的呼吁。这种上调是在疫情期间引入的，但在去年秋季价格开始大幅上涨时取消了。
The money-saving expert Martin Lewis said on Sunday that the UK could experience “civil unrest” later this year if the government fails to take decisive action.
省钱专家马丁·刘易斯周日表示，如果政府不采取果断行动，英国可能在今年晚些时候经历“内乱”。
Ministers announced in November that the state pension, universal credit and a host of other benefits would rise by 3.1%. The figure was calculated according to the consumer price index (CPI) for the year up to September 2021.
大臣们在11月宣布，国家养老金、全民信贷和一系列其他救济金将增长3.1%。这一数字是根据截至2021年9月的一年消费者价格指数（CPI）计算出来的。
The increase means that the basic state pension will rise by £4.25 to £141.85 per week, while the full new state pension will rise by £5.55 to £185.15.
这意味着基本国家养老金每周将增加4.25英镑，至141.85英镑，而全新的国家养老金将增加5.55英镑，至185.15英镑。
A single person aged 25 will see their universal credit allowance rise from £324.84 to £334.91 per month, totalling £4,019 a year. Child benefit rises 68p per week for the eldest child.
25岁的单身人士每月的通用信贷补贴将从324.84英镑增加到334.91英镑，全年共计4019英镑。年龄最大的孩子的儿童津贴每周增加68便士。
However, since September the price of most essentials has rocketed. According to the latest UK economic outlook report from PwC, British households are set to be £900 worse off this year in a “historic fall” in living standards. It found that inflation will hit 8.4% later this year.
然而，自9月以来，大多数生活必需品的价格已经飙升。普华永道最新的英国经济展望报告显示，由于生活水平出现“历史性下降”，英国家庭今年的生活水平将减少900英镑。它发现今年晚些时候通货膨胀将达到8.4%。
Helen Barnard, the associate director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, an anti-poverty group, told Sky News that benefits claimants had seen the value of payments fall in real terms in eight out of the last 10 years. “It means that in terms of their values, how much bread and milk you can buy in the shops, it is the biggest fall in value since 1972.”
海伦·巴纳德，约瑟夫·朗特里基金会（一个反贫困组织）的副主任，告诉《天空新闻》说，在过去的10年里，领取救济金的人发现，按实际价值计算，在过去的10年里，有8年的时间，救济金的价值在下降。“这意味着，就它们的价值而言——你可以在商店里买到多少面包和牛奶，这是自1972年以来价值的最大跌幅。”
She added: “We know the majority of people in poverty now are in working households. One of the problems is that too many jobs are not just low paid, but they’re insecure – you don’t know what money you’re getting one week to the next, you don’t get sick pay; you don’t get protection if something goes wrong. People are struggling to afford the basic essentials and having to rely on charities for toothpaste and toilet rolls. It’s humiliating for a lot of people.”
她补充说：“我们知道，大多数贫困人口现在都是工薪家庭。其中一个问题是，太多的工作不仅是低薪的，而且是不稳定的——你不知道下一周你能拿到多少钱，你没有病假工资；如果出了问题，你就得不到保护了。人们正在努力支付基本生活必需品，不得不依靠慈善机构提供牙膏和卫生纸。对很多人来说，这是一种耻辱。”
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said Sunak had imposed the deepest real-terms cut to the state pension in 50 years and a second deep cut to universal credit in six months.
影子工作和养老金大臣乔纳森·阿什沃斯表示，苏纳克对国家养老金实施了50年来最大幅度的实际削减，并在6个月内第二次大幅削减全民信贷。
“These severe real term cuts are a direct consequence of his point-blank refusal to take into account current price rises in setting rates,” he said. “His decision will help push an extra 1.3 million people including 500,000 children into absolute poverty. It’s now clearer than ever that the working people, disabled people and pensioners are worse off under the Tories.”
他表示：“这些严重的实际利率下调，是他在设定利率时直接拒绝考虑当前物价上涨的直接后果。他的决定将使包括50万儿童在内的130万人陷入赤贫。现在比以往任何时候都更清楚，在保守党的领导下，工人、残疾人和领取养老金的人的境况更糟。”
A government spokesperson said: “We recognise the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, which is why we’re providing support worth £22bn across the next financial year and, as was approved by parliament, benefits are being uprated by the usual measure, September’s inflation figure.
一位政府发言人表示：“我们认识到人们在生活成本方面面临的压力，这就是为什么我们将在下一个财政年度提供价值220亿英镑的支持。正如议会批准的那样，救济金将根据通常的衡量标准——9月份的通胀数据而提高。
“Our package of support includes putting an average of £1,000 more per year into the pockets of working families via changes to universal credit, cutting fuel duty and helping households with their energy bills. We have also boosted the minimum wage by more than £1,000 a year for full-time workers and are raising national insurance thresholds so people keep more of what they earn.”
“我们的一揽子支持方案包括通过改变全民信贷，降低燃油税，帮助家庭解决能源账单，平均每年增加1000英镑的收入。我们还将全职工人的最低工资提高了1000英镑以上，并提高了国民保险门槛，这样人们就能保留更多的收入。”
