中国技术移民在加拿大的处境

limkky

转自多伦多星报(多伦多星报为加拿大第2大报刊)
Sorry, but the Canadian dream is under siege
即将破灭的枫叶梦
  May 02, 2008 04:30 AM
Thomas Walkom

Canadians tend to view themselves as sensible and middle-class. In the fictional universe created by Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, we would be Hobbits – daring when necessary but otherwise cautious and just a bit square, a people who aspire to a life that is comfortable but without ostentation.加拿大人觉得自己是不错的中产阶级.如果用电影指环王中的人物比喻加拿大人,那么它们就是与世无争的矮人.

Do your job; raise your kids; have a barbecue. If the American dream is untrammelled success, the Canadian dream consists of decent holidays and a house in Etobicoke.如果说美国梦是不受拘束的成功.加国梦也就意味着休一个不错的假期,在郊外有个房子,有份工作,可以带孩子.偶尔搞一下野餐.

Alas, the dream is under attack. Middle-class countries can exist only when most are middle-class. But in Canada, that's increasingly not the case.哎,加国梦随着中产阶级的堕落而渐渐破灭.

The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. Meanwhile those in the middle are treading water.富得更富,穷得更穷,中产阶级在跳水.

The latest evidence came yesterday from Statistics Canada. What the federal agency said was not exactly new (a report released last year by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives made the same point). But it did add new details.根据加拿大国家统计局的最新报告.

First, the substantial economic gains of the past quarter-century have not been fairly shared. Thanks to Canadians working harder and smarter, the national economy grew by a stunning 50 per cent. Yet median earnings, the midpoint of the income continuum, remained virtually unchanged.虽然在过去25年里,经济增长了50%,可是中产阶级的收入基本没变.

The richest 20 per cent of full-time workers saw their inflation-adjusted, or real, median wage rise from $74,000 to $86,000; among the bottom 20 per cent, the real median wage fell from $19,000 to $15,000.中产阶级最顶层的20%薪水从74,000涨到86,000.最底层的20%薪水却降了4000.

Meanwhile, the middle fifth made about the same in 2005 ($41,000) as in 1980.同时,中间的人收入却25 年没有变.(想一下这期间的通货膨胀吃了他们多少收入)

These pre-tax figures don't include income from stocks and bonds, which go overwhelming to those at the top end.

Second, education – long considered the great leveller –is no longer sufficient.学历也没以前那么值钱了.

Those with university degrees continue to earn more. But although more women have university degrees, their real wages have remained relatively static. Young men now earn less than they did. 有经验的大学毕业男性收入多了,用同等经验的女性收入基本没变.刚大学毕业的男生的工资没以前多了.

Third, immigrants are having a rougher time. In 2005, males who recently immigrated to Canada earned just 63 cents for every dollar received by Canadian-born men, down from 85 cents in 1980.新移民的生活更艰难了.男性新移民的收入与同等加国出生的男性相比,前者的收入只有后者的63%. 1980年时,前者收入占后者85%.

For recent females immigrants, it's been worse.女性新移民的收入更差.

This growth in inequality has been mitigated by a tax system that still hits the wealthy harder and by government payments to the poorest. Even so, the report tells us something is desperately wrong in the world of work and wages.加国的税收系统基本上还是从有钱人口袋里掏钱去稳住最穷的.中产阶级去不受惠.

The reasons are several. One is the decline of unionization. Many middle-class Canadians may disapprove of unions. But ironically, it is trade unionism – with its insistence on job security and good wages – that creates and bolsters the broad middle class.中产阶级堕落的原意之一是反对工会.可是很讽刺的是,正是工会的存在培养了大量的中产.

Another is the failure of governments to protect middle-class jobs. Many companies are firing staff and contracting the work out to so-called self-employed people (often immigrants) who need not be paid the minimum wage.加国政府没有有效的保护中产阶级.越来越多的公司解雇正式工,把工作包给不受政府最低工资保障的自雇工人.(这类自雇工人通常都是移民,用他们的劳动力可以给比最低工资还低的工资).

Governments could curtail this practice. They won't.加国政府本来可以改变这一切,可是他们却不愿意.