Part A :

OK, so we've been looking at the attitudes of various social and cultural groups towards the management of their personal finances - how important they feel it is to save money, and what they save their money for.

好的，我们已经看过了不同的社会文化团体对于管理他们的个人财务问题上的态度——他们认为存钱有多重要，以及他们为了什么而存钱。

One aspect that we haven't yet considered is gender.

一个我们还没有考虑到的方面就是性别。

So if we consider gender issues we're basically asking whether men and women have different attitudes towards saving money, and whether they save money for different things.

所以如果我们考虑一下性别问题的话，我们至少要问对于存钱，男性和女性是否持有不同的态度，他们是否是为了不同的东西而存钱。

Back in 1928 the British writer George Bernard Shaw wrote in his Intelligent Women's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism that 'A man is supposed to understand politics, economics and finance and is therefore unwilling to accept essential instruction.'

追溯到1928年，英国作家George Bernard Shaw在他的《聪明女性对社会主义和资本主义的指导》书中写到：“一个男性理应是懂政治，经济和金融的，那么他也会因此不愿接受基本的指导”。

He also said, 'A woman, having fewer pretensions, is far more willing to learn'.

他还说到：“一个越是不自负的女性，越是愿意去学习。”

Now, though these days people might question a lot of the assumptions contained in those statements, recent research does suggest that there are some quite fundamental differences between men and women in their attitudes to economic matters.

现在，尽管人们可能会质疑很多被包含在这些说法中的假设，最近的研究表明，在男女对于经济问题的态度上还是存在一些根本性的差异。

Let's look at what men and women actually save for.

让我们看一下男性和女性究竟是为了什么而存钱。

Research studies of women in North America have found that women are far more likely to save for their children's education and they are also more likely to save up in order to buy a house one day.

在北美，对女性的调查研究发现女性更有可能为了她们孩子的教育而存钱，她们还更有可能为了有朝一日买房子而存钱。

The same studies have found that men, on the other hand, tend to save for a car, which by the way takes a surprisingly large amount of the household budget in North America.

同样的研究结果发现，从另一方面来讲，男性更趋向为了买车而存钱，这在北美的家庭预算中占据了惊人的比例。

But the other main priority for men when saving money is their retirement.

然而对于男性而言另一个主要的存钱优先的去向则是为了他们的退休生活。

When they're earning, they're far more likely to put money aside for their old age than women are.

当男性在赚钱的时候，相较于女性，他们更愿意把钱存起来为了老年生活备用。

Now this is rather disturbing, because in fact the need for women to save for their old age is far greater than for men.

现在，这个问题越发纠结了，因为事实上女性存钱养老的需求远比男性要大。

Let's consider this for a moment.

让我们一起考虑一下这个问题。

To start with, it is a fact that throughout the world, women are likely to live many years longer than men, so they need money to support them during this time.

首先，实际情况是全球范围内，女性寿命比男性的更长，所以她们需要钱来养老。

Since women are likely to be the ones left without a partner in old age, they may therefore have to pay for nursing care, because they don't have a spouse to look after them.

既然女性更有可能老年时没有伴侣独自一人度过，她们也许因此不得不负担护理费用，因为她们没有配偶照料她们。

Furthermore the high divorce rates in North America are creating a poverty cycle for women.

另外，北美地区高离婚率也造成了女性贫穷的循环。

It is the divorced women who will most often have to look after the children and thus they need more money to look after not just themselves but others.

往往都是离婚了的女性需要照顾孩子，因此她们也更需要钱，不仅负担自己的还有别人的开销。

Part B :

So what can be done about this situation?

所以，对于这样一种情况我们能做什么呢?

The population in North America is likely to contain an increasing number of elderly women.

北美的人口中可能会包括一定数量持续上升的老年女性。

The research indicates that at present for women it takes a crisis to make them think about their future financial situation.

调查显示目前，对于女性而言，让她们考虑未来的财务状况会造成一种危机感。

But of course this is the very worst time for anyone to make important decisions.

然而对于任何要做重要决定的人来讲这都是最恶劣的时期。

Women today need to look ahead, think ahead - not wait until they're under pressure.

当今女性同胞需要向前看，提前思考，而不是一直等到她们面临压力。

Even women in their early twenties need to think about pensions, for example, and with increasing numbers of women in professional positions there are signs that this is beginning to happen.

举个例子，即使女性在她们二十岁出头的时候需要考虑养老金的问题，并且随着越来越多的女性获得职业地位，还是有种种迹象表明这才刚刚开始发生。

Then research also suggests that women avoid dealing effectively with their economic situation because of a lack of confidence.

随后调查还表明，因为缺乏自信，女性会逃避有效地解决财务状况。

The best way for them to overcome this is by getting themselves properly informed so they are less dependent on other people's advice.

对她们而言，克服这个问题的最佳方法就是适当保持自身消息灵通，这样她们就会减少对他人建议的依赖。

A number of initiatives have been set up to help them do this.

而且已经创建了一些方案来帮助她们。

This College, for example, is one of the educational institutions which offers night classes in Money Management, and increasing numbers of women are enrolling on such courses.

比如，这所大学就是其中一所教育性机构，提供资金管理方面的晚课，而且越来越多的女性报名了这类课程。

Here, they can be given advice on different ways of saving.

在这里，她们可以学得不同的存钱方法。

Many women are unwilling to invest in stocks and shares, for instance, but these can be extremely profitable.

例如，很多女性不愿意把钱投资到股票和证券上，而这些才是相当盈利的。

It is usually advised that at least 70% of a person's savings should be in low - risk investments but for the rest, financial advisors often advise taking some well - informed risks.

比较建议的是，一个人至少70％的存款应当投入到低风险投资中去而其余的钱，金融专家经常建议可以做一些消息可靠的风险投资。

Initiatives such as this can give women the economic skills and knowledge they need for a comfortable, independent retirement.

这样的方案可以使女性获得经济学技能和知识，这都是她们为了退休后舒适独立的老年生活所必需的。

The increasing proportion of elderly women in the population is likely to have other economic consequences…