經濟危機沖淡英國年輕人結婚夢

Nagging concerns about the global economic downturn and rising unemployment are forcing many young Britons to think twice about tying the knot this year, a think-tank said on Saturday.

Almost 80 percent of young British couples living together want to get married, the think tank Civitas said, but would reconsider their wedding plans due to increasing job losses as companies cut costs and lay off workers.

"As the recession bites it's going to be harder for partners to make that commitment - without financial stability and jobs they won't have the confidence to say 'I do'," Anastasia de Waal, director of family and education at Civitas, said.

The study, which surveyed 1,560 adults aged between 20 to 35, also found that for 50 percent of the people making a commitment was the most important reason to get married, and only two percent considered marriage for tax advantages.

"If my boyfriend asked me now, then I would still say 'yes', but I wouldn't waste my money for a high-profile wedding," Jenny Brown, an employee works in London's central financial district.

But De Waal said the recession would have a serious impact on planning a life together.

"This is not about being able to afford a fancy wedding dress for 10,000 pounds or not."

A British Social Attitudes survey in January found that young people showed a less traditional attitude towards marriage and would put their careers first.

About 40 percent of people aged between 18 to 34 said marriage was still the "best kind of relationship," compared with 84 percent of people aged 65 and over, it said.

The release of the study coincided with the launch of Marriage Week UK on Saturday, using the slogan "Celebrating Commitment" and promoting the importance of marriage for family life and society.

英國一家智庫機構上週六稱，對全球經濟衰退的擔憂和不斷上升的失業率讓英國很多年輕人不得不重新考慮結婚計劃。

英國智庫機構Civitas稱，英國近80%的同居男女想結婚，但在企業爲削減成本紛紛裁員而導致失業率不斷上升之際，他們不得不重新考慮結婚計劃。

Civitas家庭和教育事務主管阿納斯塔西婭•德瓦爾說：“受經濟衰退的影響，下決心結婚也將變得更加困難，沒有穩定的收入和工作，人們沒有信心說‘我願意’。”

調查還發現，有50%的受訪者認爲給彼此一個承諾是結婚最重要的原因，僅有2%的受訪者認爲結婚是爲了享受稅收優惠。有1560名年齡在20歲至35歲之間的成年人蔘加了該項調查。

在倫敦中心金融區工作的珍妮•布朗說：“如果男友現在向我求婚，我還是會答應，但我不會浪費很多錢去大操大辦。”

但德瓦爾稱，經濟衰退會嚴重影響兩個人打算一起生活的計劃。

“這可不是你能否買得起一件1萬英鎊的結婚禮服那麼簡單。”

今年1月開展的一項“英國社會態度”調查發現，年輕人對婚姻的態度已經不那麼傳統了，他們傾向於將職業發展放在首位。

調查稱，在18歲至34歲的受訪者中，約40%的人認爲婚姻仍是“最美好的關係”，而在65歲以上的人中，這一比例則達到了84%。

該調查的公佈恰逢於上週六啓動的“英國結婚周”活動，該活動以“讚美婚姻”爲口號，宣傳婚姻對於家庭生活和社會的重要性。

Vocabulary:

think twice about:重新考慮……