Paying Your Elderly Parents an Allowance (By Law)
发布时间 2023-05-18 23:00:06 来源
摘要
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Past in 1995 Singapore's Maintenance of Parents Act is a failure of support law that requires adult children to pay a monthly salary or allowance to their elderly parents. Like many other countries in Asia, Singapore is aging extremely rapidly. The government is working to avoid a concurrent surge in elder poverty. Various societies throughout history have passed laws like these as a potential solution.
1995年，在新加坡通过的《父母赡养法案》是一项支持人道失败的法律，要求成年子女支付月薪或津贴给他们的老年父母。像许多亚洲国家一样，新加坡人口正在迅速老龄化。政府正在努力避免老年人贫困大幅增加。历史上许多社会都通过了类似这样的法律作为潜在解决方案。
In this video, I want to look at Singapore's experience in legislating failure support. But first, the Asianometry Patreon. Early access members get to see new videos and select the references for those videos before they release to the public. It helps support the videos and I appreciate every pledge. Thanks and on with a show.
在这个视频里，我想探讨新加坡在立法支持失败方面的经验。但首先，提到一下Asianometry的Patreon。提前支持的会员可以在视频发布之前看到新视频并为其选择参考文献。这有助于支持视频制作，我非常感激每一份捐助。谢谢大家的支持，现在我们开始这个视频。
Singapore's population is one the fastest aging in the world. In 1957, less than 4% of the country's people were older than 65 years old. In 1990, that number more than doubled to 6%. In 2021, it has risen to 14%. Alarmingly, the proportion has added 6 percentage points from 8% to 14% in the past 10 years. And with the city's total fertility at 1.1% per woman, the elder population will rapidly continue to rise. Current estimates find that by 2050, that number would be a staggering 40%.
新加坡人口老龄化速度是世界上最快的之一。1957年，该国不到4%的人口年龄超过65岁。到了1990年，这个数字已经翻了一倍，达到了6%。到了2021年，这个比例上升到了14%。令人担忧的是，在过去的10年中，这个比例从8%上升了6个百分点。而且，由于城市的总生育率为每个女性1.1%，老年人口将继续快速增长。目前的估计发现，到2050年，这个数字将达到惊人的40%。
Singaporeans live some of the longest lives in the world. In 2020, the average expected life span at birth in Singapore was about 84 years. Good for them, but we need to also acknowledge that as people age, they require more intensive care while simultaneously losing much of their earning capacity. How are we to provide for our elders as they age? This is not a Singapore only problem. Policy makers around the world are struggling to figure out how to pay for the increasing costs of elderly care in the time of working age population decline.
新加坡人是世界上寿命最长的人之一。2020年，新加坡的出生预期寿命约为84岁。虽然他们很幸福，但我们也需要认识到，随着年龄的增长，他们需要更多的专业护理，同事收入也会大大减少。我们该如何为年长者提供照顾呢？这不仅是新加坡的问题，全球的政策制定者都在努力寻找如何应对工作年龄人口减少时老年护理成本不断增加的问题。
One idea that many countries have adopted are called filial support laws. These create a statutory duty for adult children to support parents who cannot take care of themselves. A modern westerner might find the concept of such laws a bit uncomfortable. I know I certainly felt a bit weird about them. Yet laws exist obligating parents to take responsibility for their younger children, but not in the opposite direction.
许多国家采纳的一种思想叫做“赡养义务法”。该法创建了一项法定责任，要求成年子女为无法自理的父母提供支持。现代西方人可能会对这种法律的概念感到有些不舒服。我知道我自己对它们感到有些奇怪。然而，法律确实存在，要求父母对年幼的子女负责，但方向并不相反。
Filial support laws are not an original idea. In fact, the West has been passing them for centuries. Ancient Rome likely had such a law back in the third century. And England and the United States have had these laws on the books back in the 1600s. For instance, let's take the US state of Virginia. It shall be the duty of all persons 18 years of age or over of sufficient earning capacity or income after reasonably providing for their his or her own immediate family to assist in providing for the support and maintenance of us or her mother or father.
孝道支持法并不是一个原创的想法。事实上，西方国家已经在几个世纪以前就开始制定此类法律了。古罗马可能在公元三世纪就有了这样的法律。而英国和美国则在十七世纪就开始实行了这些法律。例如，我们可以看看美国弗吉尼亚州。所有18岁及以上的人，只要有足够的收入并在为自己的家庭提供合理的资助后，就有义务协助供养他们的母亲或父亲。
He or she being then and there in necessitous circumstances. People back then had such a way with words, didn't they? The Virginia statute allows the adult child to defend themselves if they can present, quote, substantial advance of discernment neglect abuse or willful failure. End quote. But has Western countries transitioned to government-provided safety nets like Medicare and Social Security, these filial support laws have become less relevant. England repealed their filial support laws back in 1948. In the 1970s, the Virginia law was amended to reduce our responsibility if the parent is eligible for public benefits under Medicaid. While many American states still have these laws in their books, they are largely left unenforced. Furthermore, legal scholars have significant questions about whether or not these laws can even be enforced under Western constitutions.
那时那里的人处于必需情形。他们真会用词啊！弗吉尼亚法规允许成年子女自卫，如果他们能够证明遭受了“不可辨别的虐待、疏忽或故意疏忽”的显著先见之明。引用完毕。但随着西方国家过渡到政府提供的医疗保险和社会保障等安全网，这些抚养义务法律变得不那么相关。英国在1948年废除了他们的抚养义务法。在1970年代，弗吉尼亚法律被修改，以减轻我们的责任，如果父母符合Medicaid的公共福利资格。虽然许多美国州仍然保留这些法律，但它们基本上没有得到实施。此外，法律学者对于这些法律是否能够在西方宪法下得到实施存在重大疑问。
Singapore has generally sought to avoid creating a Western-style welfare state. There are practical financial reasons for this. Just look at how much it costs to maintain such a safety net in the United States. That net cannot be maintained without higher taxes, which the Singaporean government believes it cannot easily impose without damaging much of its attractiveness as a place to do business. But Singapore's founding leaders also believed that Western-style welfare systems would encourage laziness and sloth amidst their specific population. My Asian dad would not in agreement.
新加坡一直试图避免创建西方式福利国家。这其中有一些实际的财务原因。只需要看看维持美国这样的安全保障要花多少钱就知道了。如果没有增加税收，这个保障网络是无法维持的，而新加坡政府认为增加税收将会破坏其作为商业之地的吸引力。但新加坡的建国领袖也认为，西方式的福利制度会在他们的特定人口中鼓励懒惰和懒散。我的亚洲父亲不赞同这一点。
How do the elders maintain a livable income? Most elders draw from a portfolio of sources. First, salaries from jobs, second, corporate pensions or investments, third, transfers from their children or other close family, fourth, transfers from the government. Singapore sought to encourage elders and future retirees to build up the first three income sources such that to avoid the fourth one. Thus, a series of social programs reinforcing them. First, is the country's retirement savings plan, the central provident fund board or just CPF. It is a compulsory savings fund that receives monthly contributions from working age people. For elders with bottom 20% low incomes, the CPF offers a supplementary quarterly cash supplement, the silver support scheme or SSS.
老年人是如何维持可生活的收入的呢？大多数老年人依赖多种来源的收入。第一是来自工作的薪资，第二是企业养老金或投资收益，第三是家庭子女或其他亲属的转账，第四是政府的转账。新加坡致力于鼓励老年人和未来的退休者建立前三种收入来源，以避免第四种收入来源。因此，推出了一系列社会计划来加强这些收益来源。首先，是该国的退休储蓄计划——中央公积金委员会（CPF），这是一个强制性储蓄基金，接受劳动年龄人民的月度缴款。对于收入最低20%的老年人，CPF提供了一个每季度补充现金津贴，即老年补助计划（SSS）。
Second, Singapore's housing and development board also offers a lease buyback scheme, eligible older Singaporeans can monetize their home equity and turn it into cash, a big deal for most elders since most of their wealth exists in the form of their house.
其次，新加坡的房屋和发展局也提供了一种租赁回购计划，有资格的年长新加坡人可以将其家庭资产变成现金，这对大多数老年人来说是一笔不小的交易，因为他们的大部分财富存在于房屋形式中。
Third, the government took steps to make sure that the elderly can still earn their own money. In Asia, many elders work long past the age where many Westerners retire and their salaries are critical anti-poverty measure. In 1993, Singapore passed the Retirement and Reemployment Act, which sets the minimum retirement age at 60 and later 62. This protects the elders from losing their jobs solely on the basis of age. Employers are required to offer re-employment so that the elders can continue working up to age 67. Up to 55% of Singaporean elders continue working.
第三，政府采取措施确保老年人仍能自己挣钱。在亚洲，许多老年人工作到比许多西方人退休的年龄都长，他们的工资是关键的反贫困措施。1993年，新加坡通过了《退休和再就业法》，规定最低退休年龄为60岁，后来提高到了62岁。这保护了老年人不因年龄而失去工作。企业必须提供再就业机会，让老年人可以继续工作直到67岁。达到了55%的新加坡老年人仍在工作。
In 1984, the government set up a committee to study how countries took care of their 60-plus-year-old elders. This committee noticed that Taiwan and Israel had failure support laws on their books and recommended that Singapore pass them too. It triggered a significant debate between policymakers. One group felt that such laws would help resist creeping individualism in the Singapore youths. There was concern that the youths would adopt the Western approach to elder care, that the state isn't practiced solely responsible for it.
1984年，政府成立了一个委员会研究各国如何照顾年满60岁的老人。该委员会注意到台湾和以色列有一些失败的支持法律，并建议新加坡也通过这些法律。这引发了决策者之间的重大争议。一些人认为这样的法律将帮助抵御新加坡年轻人中不断滋长的个人主义。有人担心，年轻人会采取西方的老年护理方法，认为国家不是唯一的责任方。
Despite some support for the idea, another committee believed that the law was then unnecessary.
尽管该想法得到了某些支持，但另一个委员会认为当时还不需要该法律。
意思是，虽然有人支持这个想法，但另一些人认为当时还没有必要制定这项法律。
In a 1983 survey, it was discovered that over 95% of the elders were receiving money from their children without the need for a law. Very few parents who asked for such money were rejected. When surveyed, most children say that they wanted to support their parents out of their own desire. Policy makers were concerned that this sentiment might change if there was a law in the books requiring it.
在1983年的一项调查中发现，超过95%的老年人得到了子女的资助，而不需要法律规定。很少有父母请求这种资助的被拒绝。当被调查时，大多数子女说，他们想要出于自己的意愿来支持他们的父母。政策制定者担心如果有一项法律规定这一点，这种情感可能会改变。
This second committee also brought up another issue that would be a consistent point in the debate. Asia has failure, piety, has one of its cultural values, and legislating such a squishy thing made a few people feel uncomfortable. With the passing of such a law be an indication of a breakdown in family values in Singapore, it attract undue attention from the West, inflicting damage to Singapore's image and implying a failure in society. Some 10 years later in 1993, however, policy supports started to gather for exactly such a law existing on the books.
该第二委员会也提出了另一个长期争议的问题。亚洲文化中有一种重视家庭和道德的价值观，而制定这样一个模糊的法律让一些人感到不舒服。通过这样的法律是否意味着新加坡的家庭价值体系崩溃，会吸引西方过度关注，损害新加坡的形象，暗示社会的失败。 然而，大约10年后的1993年，政策支持开始为法律存在提供支持。
Interestingly, it was not because of a surge of news stories on elder abuse or the like, it was because of attacks. That year, the Singapore government was poised to pass a goods and service tax. It would likely affect a great deal of middle-aged elders cutting into their income. In Singapore, the president can appoint a few members to parliament, unaffiliated to any party. One of those members, Professor Walter Woon, suggested a filio support law has a way to help the elders afford this new tax.
有趣的是，导致老年人虐待问题受到关注并非因为相关新闻报道的激增，而是因为攻击事件的发生。那一年，新加坡政府准备通过商品和服务税法案。这将很可能影响大量中年长者的收入。在新加坡，总统可以任命一些不隶属于任何政党的议员。其中一位议员，沃尔特·温教授，建议推出一项子女赡养法，以帮助老年人承担这项新税。
Woon's reasoning goes like this. Despite the high percentage of children already giving an allowance to their parents, there inevitably will be some dodgy individuals, the law needs to be able to handle those situations when they inevitably come up. Following Woon's reasoning, they act specifically states that it is not intended to promote filial piety or love, it is instead about accountability and providing a safety net for the 5% or so of elders who do not receive financial support from their children.
Woon的推理如下：尽管已经有很高比例的儿童给父母津贴，但难免会有一些不诚信的人，法律需要能够处理必然出现的这些情况。根据Woon的推理，该法案明确表示，它的目的不是为了促进孝道或者爱，而是为了让那些没有从子女那里得到经济支持的约5%的老年人提供 accountability和安全保障。
In his words, this bill has got nothing to do with filial piety at all. The law cannot legislate filial piety anymore than it can legislate love between husbands and wives or parents and children. The aim of the bill is to provide a safety net if filial piety fails. If you aren't a fan of your Asian parents, which I am guessing is not uncommon, this law does not require you to love them, but you do have to support them.
他的话是，这项法案与孝顺毫无关系。法律不能像立法婚姻、父母与子女之间的爱一样立法孝顺。该法案的目的是为孝顺失败提供一张安全网。如果你不太喜欢亚洲父母，我猜这并不少见，这项法律并不要求你爱他们，但你必须支持他们。
The law also reinforces an aspect of Singaporean culture that the government has repeatedly preach, self-reliance. Individuals should take self-responsibility, and if they were to fail in that, the community will not be around to help them. Has implemented in 1995, the Maintenance of Parents Act mandates that adult children must pay a monthly allowance or lump sum to each Singaporean parent over the age of 60 if needed.
这项法律进一步强化了新加坡文化的一个方面，即政府反复强调的自力更生。个人应该承担自我责任，如果他们失败了，社区将不会为他们提供帮助。维护父母法案实施于1995年，规定成年子女必须向年满60岁的每个新加坡父母支付月度津贴或一笔总费用，以满足他们的需求。
A 2016 survey found that 74% of adult Singaporean children over the age of 25 gave an allowance to their parents, that proportion fell to 70% in 2019. If the adult children refused to do their duty, then the parent can sue their child in a special tribunal. A third party was also set up to bring cases on the elders behalf. The case goes before a special mediator who reviews the circumstances, including whether or not the parent in question, quote unquote, morally deserves support.
2016年的一项调查发现，超过25岁的新加坡成年子女中有74%给予父母补贴，而在2019年，这一比例下降到了70%。如果成年子女拒绝履行责任，那么父母可以在特殊的仲裁庭上起诉他们的子女。还成立了第三方机构，代表老年人提起诉讼。案件将被提交给特殊调解员，审查情况，包括被控父母是否“道德上”值得获得支持。
For instance, if the parent has previously abandoned their child or abused or neglected their parenting duties, then that obviously has to be taken into account.
例如，如果父母以前曾经弃儿或虐待或忽视了他们的育儿责任，那么这显然必须被考虑在内。
Later in 2011, the law was amended to make a mandatory that elder parents first seek conciliation with their children at the office of the commissioner for the maintenance of parents before they can go before the tribunal.
在2011年晚些时候，法律经过修订，符合条件的父母必须首先在养老金维护专员办公室与他们的子女进行调解，然后才能到法庭上申诉。这项法律规定的目的是确保父母能够得到更好的照顾和关爱。
To act now being in the books, its usage has been relatively sparse, prior to 2011 about 170 cases a year when in front of the tribunal. Adding the conciliation process helped steadily reduce the number of those cases to new lows.
现在执行这一规定已经成为法律，但在2011年之前，针对该法案的案件数量相对较少，每年前往法庭的案件数量约为170件。随着调解程序的加入，帮助稳步减少这些案件数量至新低水平。
Per the Ministry of Social and Family Development in 2021, 110 cases were lodged with the commissioner. This is up from 2020's low of 98, but a decrease in the annual case load numbers from 2017 to 2019.
根据2021年社会及家庭发展部的报告，已有110宗投诉案向专员提交。虽然比2020年的98宗有所增加，但是与2017年至2019年的年度案例数相比较，则有所减少。
However, one should also mention that elderly Singaporean parents, even those in financial hardship, are reluctant to take their adult children to court. This means that the visible statistics might far undercount the actual number.
但是，需要提到的是，即使是财务困难的新加坡老年父母，也不愿意把他们的成年子女告上法庭。这意味着可见的统计数据可能远远低于实际数字。
There is more to elder care than just the financial aspect. There is also a lifestyle and health issue too. Elders require more healthcare services than the youth. They are more frequently hospitalized, often due to chronic diseases or conditions with no cure.
照顾老人不仅涉及财务方面，还包括生活方式和健康问题。老人需要比年轻人更多的医疗服务。他们更频繁住院，往往是由于慢性疾病或无法治愈的状况所致。
And when they do, they tend to stay in the hospital longer, 21 days or more. These tend to create hospital bed crunches and spates of high occupancy rates.
然而，当这些病人被收治后，通常需要停留更长时间，21天或以上。这往往导致医院床位紧张和高入住率。
Despite government initiatives to limit the cost and effort of long-term care family members rather than institutions are still first in line to bear the brunt of these changes. Currently, there is no familial support law handling these physical efforts, and it is unclear whether Singapore or any country would be able to legislate them.
尽管政府采取了限制长期护理成本和工作量的措施，但家庭成员仍然是首批承受这些变化的人。目前，在处理这些身体努力方面，没有家庭支持法律，也不清楚新加坡或任何国家能否立法。
In the past 20 years, India and China and Bangladesh have passed their own familial support laws. It is a reflection of new needs in Asian countries for supporting the elderly without layering on potentially backbreaking financial responsibilities onto the government.
在过去的20年里，印度、中国和孟加拉国都通过了自己的家庭支持法律。这反映了亚洲国家的新需求，即在不给政府带来潜在沉重财务负担的情况下支持老人。
Elder poverty is a very real thing. Living in Asia, I cannot help but feel for all the elders I see here working labor intensive menial jobs.
老年贫困是一种非常现实的问题。作为一个居住在亚洲的人，我不禁为在这里工作的老年人们感到心疼，他们往往从事体力劳动和琐碎的工作。
But at the same time, I do wonder if the familial support concept potentially accelerates the societal aging process by robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is something for other countries to consider.
但同时，我也在想，家庭支持的概念是否会通过拆东墙补西墙的方式，加速社会的老龄化进程。这是其他国家需要考虑的问题。
Alright, that's it for tonight. Thanks for watching. I'll see you guys next time.
好了，今晚的节目就到这里了。感谢观看。我们下次再见。