【英语生活】汇丰：逾七成中国人不担心退休生活

Despite the fact that nearly 40% of China's elderly suffer from depression, according to a recent report from state-run Xinhua News Agency, most Chinese have upbeat outlooks for their retirement.

In fact, they're more optimistic about their post-work lives than almost everyone else, according to a new study from HSBC.

Surveying 17,000 working adults in 17 places, HSBC found that 75% of Chinese believe they'll be better off than their parents when it comes to retirement. That level of hopefulness puts China second only to India (78%) in the survey, and well ahead of developed countries.

Having watched their economy rise to become the world's second largest, Chinese citizens are far more optimistic than their U.S. counterparts, where only 22% of citizens believe the quality of their lives in retirement will surpass their parents', perhaps because they've spent the last few years reading headlines about the economic downturn and stubbornly high employment rates.

But even sub-prime-battered Americans have a rosier outlook than the French, who finished dead last among those surveyed with a meager 13% expecting to retire in better style than mom and dad.

China's rosy retirement outlook is a stark contrast to an April poll from the Washington, D.C.-based Gallup Organization, which found that 71% of Chinese see themselves as struggling and 17% say they are downright struggling.

One explanation for the pessimism reflected in the Gallup poll might be China's inflation rate, which stood at 5.3% in April and remains persistently high despite government attempts to dampen it through interest rate increases and curbs on lending.

For the elderly, who have fixed incomes, rising food and housing prices have hit hard, with many racing to grocery stores in March to stock up on soap and laundry detergent when they heard prices would rise.

Yet the majority of Chinese still feel equipped for the long-term future, according to the HSBC study. Having enough money to live on after a career ends is a big worry for most, but not in China, where 78% of people say they've adequately prepared.

The study attributes some of China's preparedness to the fact that the country's citizens, well known for their savings habits, are accustomed to socking their money in preparation FOR emergencies and old age. While China has the highest expectancy of state-reliance for retirement, with 40% expecting to lean on government pension plans, additional saving for retirement has just become a way of life, the study said.

Chinese do have one major concern about their retirement, however: the cost of caring for their aging parents.

More than a quarter of Chinese people in the HSBC study said the prospect of caring for their parents made them anxious.

It's a worry shared by the country's economic planners. China's vast population of 1.34 billion is rapidly aging, which means there will be more people retiring in the years to come and a dwindling supply of workers to support them. People over the age of 60 now account for 13.3% of China's population, compared to 10.33% in 2000, according to the results of the latest Census data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

据新华社最近的一则报导说，尽管事实上有近40%的中国老年人患有抑郁症，大部分中国人对退休生活有着乐观的预期。

Qilai Shen/European Pressphoto Agency 中国上海的退休老人们在公园休息。实际上，据汇丰(HSBC)的一项新研究显示，中国人差点成为世界上对退休生活最为乐观的群体。

汇丰对17个地方的17,000名上班族进行了调查，结果发现有75%的中国人认为他们退休后会比父母过得好。在调查中，这一比例使中国仅次于印度（78%）排在第二，远远超过了发达国家。

中国人目睹自己的国家跃升为全球第二大经济体，他们比美国人乐观的多。在美国，只有22%的人认为退休后的生活质量将超过父母，或许是因为过去几年来他们看到的新闻标题都是经济低迷和居高不下的失业率。

不过，即使是受到次债危机打击的美国人也比法国人要乐观。在调查中，法国人排在最后，只有13%的法国人预计退休后会比父母过得好。

中国乐观的退休预期与位于华盛顿的盖洛普(Gallup Organization) 4月份进行的一项民意调查形成了鲜明对比。盖洛普的调查发现，有71%的中国人认为自己生活艰难，而有17%的人生活困苦。

盖洛普调查所反映出来的悲观情绪的原因之一可能是中国的通货膨胀率。4月份中国通货膨胀率为5.3%，尽管政府试图通过加息和限制放贷遏制通货膨胀，通货膨胀率却依然居高不下。

对于拥有固定收入的老年人来说，不断上涨的食品价格和房价带来了严重打击。3月份，当听说价格会上涨时，很多老年人冲向商店抢购肥皂和洗衣粉。

然而，据汇丰的研究显示，大部分中国人仍觉得为长远的将来做好了准备。大部分人都担心在职业生涯结束后是否有足够的钱维持生活，但不包括中国──在中国，有78%的人说为退休做了充分的准备。

研究将此部分归因于中国人习惯于存钱以备不时之需和养老的事实。中国人的存钱习惯是众所周知的。研究说，尽管中国人对政府支持的退休计划期望最高，有40%的人预计依靠政府的退休计划，但为退休额外存钱只是成了一种生活方式。

不过，中国人确实对退休有一点非常担忧：赡养年事渐高的父母的费用。

在汇丰的研究中，有四分之一以上的中国人说，赡养父母的前景令他们焦虑不安。

这也是中国经济规划人士所担心的。中国13.4亿的庞大人口在迅速老龄化，意味着未来将有更多的人退休，而供养他们的劳动力却在减少。据中国国家统计局最新的人口普查结果显示，目前60岁以上人口占了中国总人口的13.3%，而2000年这一比例为10.33%。