世界上哪里的年轻人对未来最乐观？
Where Are Young People Most Optimistic? In Poorer Nations.
CLAIRE CAIN MILLER, ALICIA PARLAPIANO
2021年11月18日
笔记导读
comport /kəm’pɔːt/ v.举止;表现；If you comport yourself in a particular way, you behave in that way. ◆ She always comports herself with great dignity. 她的举止总是很端庄。
comport with sth 【正式】 与…一致，与…相符
with the advent of 随着…的到来
wealth accumulation 财富积累
be lifted out of poverty 脱贫
hindrance /’hɪndr(ə)ns/ 妨碍者;障碍物；A hindrance is a person or thing that makes it more difficult for you to do something.
hindrance to sth/sb ◆ The high price is a major hindrance to potential buyers. 价格高是使潜在买主却步的主要因素。
双语全文
Will the next generation do better than the one that came before? To young people in wealthier nations, that dream of upward mobility seems more like a story about the past than modern-day reality, according to a large new survey taken in 21 countries.
下一代将比上一代过得更好吗？据最近在21个国家进行的一项大型调查，对富裕国家的年轻人来说，步步高升的梦想更像是过去的故事，而不是当代的现实。
In poorer countries, though, there is still hope that young people’s lives will be better than those of their parents, and that the world is becoming a better place.
但在较贫穷的国家，年轻人的生活将比他们父母的更好、世界正在变得更美好的希望仍然存在。
“In a lot of the developing world, there is a bit more optimism that yes, with each generation our living standards are improving,” said Laurence Chandy, director of the office of global insight and policy at UNICEF, which conducted the survey with Gallup. “But there’s a recognition in the West that’s stopped happening.”
“在很多发展中国家，乐观的看法多一点，人们认为每一代人的生活水平都在提高，”联合国儿童基金会全球视野和政策办公室主任劳伦斯·钱迪说，该机构与盖洛普公司一起进行了这项调查。“但西方的一种认识是，这种情况已不再发生。”
In the United States, 56 percent of young people and 64 percent of older people said that children today would be worse off, economically, than their parents — a view that comports with the economic realities for many in recent years.
在美国，56%的年轻人和64%的年长者认为，今天的孩子们在经济上将不如他们的父母——这个看法符合许多人近年来的经济现实。
The survey was of 21,000 people in two age groups — 15 to 24, and 40 and up — and included nationally representative samples from all regions of the world. The younger group said that children today were better off in basic ways, like education, health care and physical safety. In the median country, 57 percent of them said the world was becoming a better place with each generation, compared with 39 percent of older people.
这项调查涵盖了两个年龄组——15至24岁和40岁以上，共2.1万人，包括对来自世界所有地区的具有全国性代表的抽查。年轻一代表示，今天的孩子们在教育、医疗保健和人身安全等基本方面境况更好。在收入中位数国家，57%的人认为对每一代人来说，世界都会变好，相比之下，只有39%的年长者这样认为。
And the best part of being a young person today? Technology, according to respondents in follow-up interviews.
身为今天的年轻人，最好的东西是什么？据对回复调查者的后续采访，是科技。
“Young people these days have access to information and new technologies that other generations haven’t even come close to having,” said Victor Paganotto Carvalho Freitas, 24, from São Paulo, Brazil. “With the advent of the internet, it is possible to learn different skills from within your bedroom.”
“如今的年轻人能够使用或接触的信息和新技术，与以前几代人有过的是天壤之别，”24岁的维克多·帕加诺托·卡瓦略·弗雷塔斯说，他住在巴西圣保罗。“互联网的到来，让人可以不出卧室就能学习不同的技能。”
But young people also have significant concerns. In the surveys, about nine in 10 said they sometimes or often have anxiety. Six in 10 said children today have more pressure from adults to succeed than their parents did. Seven in 10 say the actions of their parents’ generation have contributed to climate change.
但年轻人也有明显的担忧。约90%的人在调查中说，他们有时或经常感到焦虑。60%的人说，今天的孩子们感受到的来自成年人的成功压力，比他们的父母受到的大。70%的人说，他们父辈的行为导致了气候变化。
The survey, conducted from February to June, did not directly ask about the pandemic (the researchers weren’t confident that answers could be compared because Covid has hit countries at different times). But young people said countries would be safer if they cooperated more to fight threats like Covid. A majority said they struggled with mental health. And the institutions in which they had the highest levels of trust were medicine and science (social media and religious institutions were lowest).
这项从2月到6月进行的调查没有直接询问有关新冠病毒大流行的问题（研究人员对可否比较不同国家的答案没有信心，因为新冠病毒在各国暴发的时间不同）。但年轻人说，如果各国在抗击新冠病毒等威胁上加强合作，每个国家都会更安全。大多数人说他们有过心理健康方面的挣扎。他们信任度最高的是医学和科学机构（信任度最低的是社交媒体和宗教机构）。
“I just think about Covid when I think about the future,” said Landen Otaka, 16, from Hawaii. “We’re trying to adapt to what has become.”
“我想到未来时，总是想到新冠病毒疾病，”16岁的兰登·大高说，他住在夏威夷。“我们正在努力适应已经发生的事情。”
In the six richest countries in the survey, about one-third of young people said they thought today’s children would be economically better off than their parents. They were particularly pessimistic in Japan, France, Britain and Spain.
在调查中最富裕的六个国家，只有约三分之一的年轻人说，他们认为今天的孩子们在经济上将比他们的父母更好。日本、法国、英国和西班牙的年轻人尤为悲观。
How 15- to 24-Year-Olds Think Children Today Will Compare With Their Parents Economically
15至24岁的年轻人认为如今的孩子未来在经济状况上与他们的父母相比会如何？
In low-income countries, though, about two-thirds of young people said they thought today’s children would do better financially than their parents, especially in Africa and South Asia. They were also more likely than those in high- or middle-income countries to say the world was becoming a better place with each generation.
但在低收入国家，大约三分之二的年轻人说，他们认为今天的孩子们在经济上将比他们的父母更好，尤其是在非洲和南亚。与高收入或中等收入国家的年轻人相比，他们也更可能认为世界正随着每一代人变得更好。
Young People, Particularly in the Low-Income Countries, Think the World Is Getting Better
年轻人，尤其是来自低收入国家的年轻人认为世界会变得越来越好
Wealth accumulation and improvements in living standards may be slowing for many in the global North, said Sharlene Swartz, a sociologist at the Human Sciences Research Council in Pretoria, South Africa, whose research focuses on young people. “But in almost all of the global South, that is not true,” she said. “Living standards have been improved across the board. People have been lifted out of poverty. Malaria treatment, H.I.V. medication — all those things are leading to people living longer lives.”
北半球许多国家的财富积累和生活水平的提高可能正在放缓，位于南非比勒陀利亚的人文科学研究理事会社会学家莎莲娜·斯沃茨说，该理事会的研究重点是年轻人。“但对几乎所有南半球国家来说，情况不是这样，”她说。“人们的生活水平已有全面的提高。人们摆脱了贫困。疟疾的治疗、艾滋病的药物，所有这些都在让人们活得更久。”
Still, the optimism was not universal in the developing world.
尽管如此，这种乐观情绪并不在发展中国家普遍存在。
“The worst part are destroyed economics, negative effects of capitalism and climate change, which our generation will have to deal with,” said Valeriia Drabych, 19, from Kyiv, Ukraine. “Lust of money, which our ancestors did not know how to overcome, brought us to the state we are in today. We have to sort it all out, and we have to do it ASAP!”
“最糟糕的是经济被摧毁、资本主义的负面影响，以及气候变化，这些是我们这代人必须应对的问题，”19岁的瓦莱里娅·德拉比奇说，她住在乌克兰基辅。“我们的祖先不知如何克服对金钱的贪欲，导致了我们今天的处境。我们必须理顺所有的问题，我们必须尽快去做！”
In the West, particularly the United States, many young people surveyed said that not everyone is born at the same starting line, and that success is not entirely within their control. The American dream has often been defined as a belief that those who work hard will live a “better, richer and happier life,” regardless of the circumstances in which they’re born. But this generation appears to have doubts — which matches a recent economic finding that since 1980, Americans are no longer likelier than not to earn more than their parents.
在西方，尤其是美国，许多接受调查的年轻人表示，每个人并不是出生在同一起跑线上，成功与否并不完全在他们的掌控之中。美国梦的定义通常是，无论他们出生在什么环境中，那些努力工作的人将过上“更好、更富有、更幸福的生活”。但这一代人似乎对这种信念心存疑虑——这与最近的一项经济研究的结果相符：自1980年起，美国人已不再更可能获得比他们父母更高的收入。
Young Americans still said hard work was most important to success, but the second-largest share said it was family wealth and connections. Older people in the United States were 40 percent more likely than young people to say hard work was most important, and half as likely to say it was family wealth or connections.
大多数美国年轻人仍认为努力工作对成功最重要，但认为家庭财富和人脉最重要的人数位居第二。美国年长者中，认为努力工作最重要的比例比年轻人高出40%，认为家庭财富或人脉最重要的比例比年轻人低一半。
What Young People Think is the Most Important Factor in Determining Success
年轻人眼中决定成功的最重要因素
How 15- to 24-year-olds in each country responded.
各国15至24岁年轻人的回答。
“We’re starting to tell different stories here, not always about Rocky and Rudy and the bootstrap thing,” said Bob McKinnon, founder of Moving Up Media Lab, a nonprofit focused on helping people recognize who and what influenced their lives. “On one hand, you want and need people to believe that they can make a difference in their own lives, but on the other hand, you need people to understand it’s about more than just their own hard work.”
“我们正在开始讲述不同的故事，不总是关于洛奇和鲁迪自力更生的故事，”鲍勃·麦金农说，他是Moving Up Media Lab的创始人，该非营利组织致力于帮助人们认识什么人和什么事情在影响他们的生活。“一方面，你想让人们、需要人们相信他们能改变自己的生活，但另一方面，你需要人们懂得，改变生活不只是靠他们自己努力工作。”
Makeila Ward, 16, from Nevada, is taking classes at community college during high school, and plans to become a flight nurse in the Air Force. “People who start off with a better life than others have higher chances of getting more successful more easily,” she said. “But even with a hard background, if you put the work in and save up the money, most of the time you get what you deserve.”
家住内华达州的玛凯拉·沃德现年16岁，上高中的同时在社区大学选课，她的计划是参加空军当一名飞行护士。“那些一开始就比别人有更好生活的人，更有可能比别人更成功，也更容易成功，”她说。“但即使出生于艰苦背景的人，如果你努力工作，努力攒钱，大多数时候，你会得到你应得的。”
Young people in low- and middle-income countries were more likely to say that things within their control — education and hard work — were most important. In South America, India and some African nations, they said education was the strongest factor in success. This was also the case in Germany, which was an outlier among rich countries in this way.
低收入和中等收入国家的年轻人更有可能说，他们掌控之中的事情——教育和努力工作——最重要。南美、印度和一些非洲国家的年轻人说，教育是成功的最重要因素。德国的年轻人也这样认为，在这方面，德国在富裕国家中是个例外。
“We do not get to choose our families or social status, but that has never been a hindrance for anyone to succeed,” said Lorraine Nduta, 21, from Nairobi, Kenya. “In fact, I think when you have less, it fuels you to seek more. The power to change any situation lies with us — hard work, consistency and discipline.”
“我们不能选择我们的家庭或社会地位，但这从来都不是任何人成功的障碍，”21岁的洛林·恩杜塔说，她住在肯尼亚内罗毕。“事实上，我认为，当你拥有更少时，你有动力去追求更多。改变任何境况的力量在我们自身——努力工作、坚持不懈、有自制力。”
Md. Rafaiat Ullah, 24, a university student in Chittagong, Bangladesh, said he thought he would be in a better financial position than his parents because of education. “My parents didn’t get a chance to be educated that much,” he said. “But even though they didn’t, they did educate me. Education creates opportunity.”
现年24岁的拉菲亚特·乌拉是孟加拉国吉大港的一名大学生，他说，他认为自己的经济状况会比父母的更好，因为他接受的教育。“我父母没有机会接受那么多的教育，”他说。“但尽管他们没有上过太多学，他们的确让我接受了教育。教育创造机会。”
In developing countries, there is an increasing priority on education as a way to move up; in the United States, universal education has existed longer and higher education has become a dividing line, said Dr. Robert Blum, principal investigator of the Global Early Adolescent Study at Johns Hopkins.
在发展中国家，教育作为一种上升的途径越来越受重视；在普及教育存在的时间更长的美国，高等教育已成为一条分界线，约翰·霍普金斯大学全球青少年早期研究的首席研究员罗伯特·布鲁姆博士说。
“In low- and middle-income countries,” he said, “it’s seen as: ‘What’s my ticket to doing better? I don’t have many tickets. I don’t have a family with wealth, my social capital is really limited. So my ticket is going to be education if I have anything at all.’”
他说，“在低收入和中等收入国家，高等教育被视为‘我怎样才能过得更好的门票。我没有太多门票。我没有富裕的家庭，我的社会资本真的很有限。所以，如果我能拥有门票的话，那就是接受教育。’”
In her research, Professor Swartz has found that young people in poor countries often draw optimism from religious faith as well as strong family and community bonds.
斯沃茨在研究中发现，贫穷国家的年轻人常常从宗教信仰、以及强劲的家庭和社区纽带中得到乐观态度。
“When people write about the global South and young people living in poverty, they frequently discount that kind of faith in a higher being, and faith that older siblings are paving the way for them,” she said.
“当人们写有关南半球和生活在贫困中的年轻人的文章时，他们常常以为，这种对更高存在的信仰、对哥哥姐姐正在为他们铺平道路的信心不重要。”
Throughout the world, the dream of a better life for the next generation persists, even if it’s increasingly out of reach in certain places.
在全世界，对下一代将生活得更好的梦想继续存在，尽管这个梦想在某些地方越来越遥不可及。
“I want to be an optimist and think that some day the world will open its eyes and let everyone be whatever they want to be, helping to have better access to school and work opportunities,” said Angela Bahamonde Ahijado, 24, from Cetina, Spain. “That is what I would ask for my daughter, and I know that my parents in their day asked for it for me.”
“我想当一名乐观主义者，认为总有一天世界会睁开眼睛，让每个人都成为他们想成为的人，帮助他们得到更好的学习和工作机会，”24岁的安吉拉·巴哈蒙德·阿希加多说，她住在西班牙塞蒂娜。“这是我会为我女儿要求的，我知道，这也是我父母在他们年轻的时候为我要求的。”
