上海交通大学：《跨文化交流》教学资源_课后阅读_reading for unit 3_The Disappearance of the British Family

The Disappearance of the British Family 1 With the average number of children in a British family falling beneath an average of 2.0,the population of the UK has been falling for quite a few years.The size of the British workforce is declining and the average age of the workforce is rising.This trend is quite worrying for the British economy. 2 Why aren't the British having as many children as they used to?Well,there is a whole range of reasons.One of them is that British people are now having their children at a much older age than previously,meaning they have fewer years in which they can have children. Most young people today want a well-paid job,meaning they usually have to go to university. After years of study at university,they can get the job they want.They might then get married,but it's incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK. 3 The above explains why British young people now do not move out of their parents' home until they are around 30 years old on average.It is not until they are 30 that they can afford their own home.Increasingly,it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home.It is only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child. 4 So a British person manages to get a job,get a home and get married.Why isn't he or she then having at least two children on average?The main reason is that it is relatively expensive to bring up a child in the UK.Why is it expensive?Well,these days,both parents need to work just to pay for their home and living expenses.Because both parents are at work,that means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day(a nanny or nursery school).Paying for this child care is nearly always expensive. 5 The recent credit crunch is making things even harder for families,since unemployment is rising and even fewer people can afford to have children.With so much pressure on families,is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high? 6 So what is British doing to try and save the British family?First of all,the government is trying to make it cheaper to have children.For example,there have been increases in Child Benefit money families can claim from the state each month.Also,there is an increasing amount of government subsidy for nursery school,so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care.In addition,there are now laws allowing parents to take more time off work so that they can look after their child or children themselves rather than having to pay others to do it. 7 The UK government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills.If parents did not have to work so many hours,they'd have more time to spend with their children and wouldn't need to spend so much on child care.On average,a Briton works 49 hours a week,which is the most in Europe. It is a bad "work-life balance"and is damaging British society.The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage British companies to improve the work-life balance of all their employees.Let's hope they're not too late to save the British family.Otherwise,the British will always be too tired,and won't have enough time and money,to have children.Where's the fun in that?

The Disappearance of the British Family 1 With the average number of children in a British family falling beneath an average of 2.0, the population of the UK has been falling for quite a few years. The size of the British workforce is declining and the average age of the workforce is rising. This trend is quite worrying for the British economy. 2 Why aren’t the British having as many children as they used to? Well, there is a whole range of reasons. One of them is that British people are now having their children at a much older age than previously, meaning they have fewer years in which they can have children. Most young people today want a well-paid job, meaning they usually have to go to university. After years of study at university, they can get the job they want. They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK. 3 The above explains why British young people now do not move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average. It is not until they are 30 that they can afford their own home. Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home. It is only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child. 4 So a British person manages to get a job, get a home and get married. Why isn’t he or she then having at least two children on average? The main reason is that it is relatively expensive to bring up a child in the UK. Why is it expensive? Well, these days, both parents need to work just to pay for their home and living expenses. Because both parents are at work, that means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day (a nanny or nursery school). Paying for this child care is nearly always expensive. 5 The recent credit crunch is making things even harder for families, since unemployment is rising and even fewer people can afford to have children. With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high? 6 So what is British doing to try and save the British family? First of all, the government is trying to make it cheaper to have children. For example, there have been increases in Child Benefit money families can claim from the state each month. Also, there is an increasing amount of government subsidy for nursery school, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care. In addition, there are now laws allowing parents to take more time off work so that they can look after their child or children themselves rather than having to pay others to do it. 7 The UK government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills. If parents did not have to work so many hours, they’d have more time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on child care. On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week, which is the most in Europe. It is a bad “work-life balance” and is damaging British society. The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage British companies to improve the work-life balance of all their employees. Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family. Otherwise, the British will always be too tired, and won’t have enough time and money, to have children. Where’s the fun in that?