Mexico: Not Ageing Gracefully

As Mexico ages,public services are not keeping up.墨西哥人口老齡化加劇，但該國的公共服務卻跟不上社會需求。

In a sunlit room in Mexico City a group of old people sit round a whiteboard.Some are asleep; others are playing a game.They shout out words,starting with the syllable that the previous one ends with: “Taco!” “Comal!” A bubblyyoung worker leads them along.

在墨西哥城一個灑滿陽光的房間里，一群老年人圍坐在一塊白板周圍，有的在打瞌睡，有的在玩游戲。他們輪流大聲說出詞語，下一人說的詞的首音節要跟上一人說的尾音節相同：“玉米卷餅！（taco）”“餅鐺！（comal）”。一位活力四射的年輕工作人員引導著他們。

2 It is a rare sight in Mexico,where facilities for old people are sparse.Emma Tapia founded the home,Casa Alicia,in 2017.It has space for 20 female residents; the day centre is open to men as well.“Demand is growing very quickly,” she says.

2 這樣的場景在墨西哥并不常見，因為該國的養老設施稀缺。埃瑪·塔皮亞于2017年創建了這家名為“卡薩·阿莉西亞”的養老院。養老院可以容納20 位老年女性居住；日間護理中心也對男性開放。埃瑪·塔皮亞表示：“對養老院的需求增長得非常快。”

3 Mexico is ageing fast.The proportion of its people who are under 20 peaked in 2010.The birth rate has been falling.In 1960 the average Mexican woman could expect to have seven children; now the figure is two.Life expectancy has soared from 57 to 75 over the same period,putting Mexico on a par withChina or Lithuania.Today 12%of Mexicans are over 60,up from 9%in 2010; by 2050 they will be around a quarter of the population.“Mexico’s population pyramid is no longer so clearly a pyramid,” says Baruch Sanginés,a demographer.Covid-19,which,according to’s calculations,has resulted in over half a million excess deaths in Mexico,may have slowed down this trend,but only slightly.

3 墨西哥正在快速步入老齡化社會。20 歲以下人口的比例在2010年達到了峰值。墨西哥的生育率一直在下降。1960年，其婦女平均生育7 個孩子；而現在，她們平均生育兩個孩子。同期，墨西哥人的預期壽命從57 歲飆升至75 歲，與中國或立陶宛相當。如今，12%的墨西哥人超過了60 歲，與2010年的9%相比有所上升；到2050年，超過60 歲的人口將占到總人口的1/4 左右。人口統計學家巴魯奇·桑希內斯表示：“墨西哥的人口金字塔已經不再那么像金字塔了。”根據《經濟學人》的計算，新冠肺炎已導致墨西哥的超量死亡人數超過了50 萬。雖然這可能減緩了老齡化趨勢，但也只是稍稍減緩。

4 Most countries that are grey are also rich,and so can afford good public services for the elderly.For not-yetrich countries like Mexico,rapid ageing presents trickier problems.Mexican policy-makers are starting to take note of the situation and grapple withit,but too slowly,says Luis Miguel Gutiérrez Robledo of the National Institute of Geriatrics,a government research body.

4 大多數人口老齡化的國家很富裕，因此有能力為老年人提供良好的公共服務。對墨西哥這樣尚不富裕的國家來說，快速老齡化帶來了更加棘手的問題。在政府研究機構——國家老年病學研究所工作的路易斯·米格爾·古鐵雷斯·羅夫萊多稱，墨西哥的決策者開始關注這一情況，并著手盡力解決，但進展太慢。

5 Mexico’s old people,unfortunately,are not in good shape.Nearly a third of those over the age of 50 are obese,compared with one-fifth in 1995,according to the national statistical agency.Not surprisingly,diabetes and heart disease are widespread.As people live longer,dementia is becoming more common,too.

5 不幸的是，墨西哥老年人的身體狀況較差。根據國家統計機構的數據，在50 歲以上的人口中，接近1/3 的人過度肥胖，而在1995年，這一比例為1/5。不足為奇的是，糖尿病和心臟病很普遍。隨著人們壽命的延長，癡呆癥也變得越來越常見。

6 On top of this,Mexico’s public health-care system is fragmented.A survey from 2018 found that 12% of old people lacked access to any medical service,whether in private or public clinics.There are 700 geriatric specialists in the country,serving a population of 126 m.In the United States there are ten times as many (for a population nearly three times the size).

6 除此之外，墨西哥的公共醫療衛生體系支離破碎。2018年的一項調查顯示，12%的老年人無法獲得任何醫療服務，無論是在私人診所還是公立診所。墨西哥只有700 位老年病專科醫生，卻要服務于1.26億人口，而美國的老年病專科醫生是墨西哥的10 倍之多（而其人口差不多僅是墨西哥的3倍）。

7 For many Mexicans care homes have “negative connotations”,says Ms Tapia.As in many other Latin countries,most think the elderly should be cared for at home,surrounded by their relatives and loved ones.But this creates a burden that many middle-aged Mexicans find hard to shoulder.More women work outside the home,so have less time and perhaps less inclination to take on the traditional role of caregiver.In 1990 34% of women were in the workforce; 46% are now.

7 塔皮亞女士稱，對許多墨西哥人來說，養老院具有“負面含義”。和許多其他拉美國家一樣，大多數墨西哥人認為老人應該在家里養老，身邊陪伴著親人。但這給墨西哥的許多中年人帶來了難以承受的負擔。越來越多的女性外出工作，因此她們沒有太多時間，或許也沒有太強意愿來承擔傳統的照料者角色。1990年，有34%的女性在職場；而現在則有46%。

8 In a sunny patio filled with cactuses,Ramón Jordan explains that his mother,100-year-old Amalia Rocha Hernández,moved in with him after being passed between his siblings,each of whom grew tired of looking after her.Mr Jordan is 66.“Híjole,he’s old too!” says Ms Rocha,looking up from her sewing.Mr Jordan says his mother is no burden,but then lists a litanyof difficulties he faces,from her wanting to talk too much to her knocking on his door at night.

8 在陽光充足、養滿仙人掌的露臺上，拉蒙·霍爾丹解釋道，他的母親阿馬利婭·羅查·埃爾南德斯已年滿百歲，現在搬到他家常住了，之前老人是在幾個子女家輪換著住，但霍爾丹的那些兄弟姐妹對照顧老母漸生厭倦。霍爾丹先生66 歲了。羅查女士從正在做的針線活兒上抬起頭來，感嘆道：“唉，他也老了！”霍爾丹先生說，他的母親并不是負擔，但隨后又列舉出了一連串他所面對的困難，比如母親話太多，夜里敲他的門之類的事。

9 Help is hard to come by.There is no comprehensive public system of carers and private ones cost a lot.Mr Jordan relies on his son and daughter-in-law to help.The National Institute of Geriatrics reckons there are only 1,490 care homes,offering 40,000 places,in the whole of Mexico.Almost all are private and costly.Casa Alicia charges 16,000 pesos ($793)a month for residents,and 9,500 pesos for those who use the day centre.

9 家庭養老很難得到幫助。墨西哥沒有全面的公共看護體系，請私人護理的費用又很高，霍爾丹先生只有依靠自己的兒子和兒媳幫忙。據國家老年病學研究所估算，全墨西哥只有1490 家養老院，共提供4萬個床位。幾乎所有的養老院都是私立的，并且收費高昂。卡薩·阿莉西亞養老院每月向入住老人收取1.6 萬比索（合793 美元），對需要日間護理服務的老人每月收取9500 比索。

10 An estimated 38% of old people are poor,by an official measure that includes not only income but access to services.No universal social-security system exists in Mexico.Since most jobs are informal,less than half of Mexicans have a pension.Pedro Vásquez Colmenares,the author of a book on the subject,describes the lack of universal pensions as the country’s “biggest failure since the Mexican Revolution”.

10 根據官方的衡量標準，估計有38%的老年人處于貧困狀態，這一標準不僅參考了收入，也參考了他們獲得養老服務的狀況。墨西哥尚未建立全民社會保障體系。由于大部分工作是非正式的，所以只有不到一半的墨西哥人享受退休金。佩德羅·巴斯克斯·科梅納雷斯就相關話題撰寫過一本書，他表示，缺少全民養老金是該國“自墨西哥革命以來最大的失敗”。

11 President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has increased cash handouts to the elderly.But even if these bungs outlast his time in office (he is stepping down in 2024),it is not clear that they are sustainable,as the number of old people grows.

11 總統安德烈斯·曼努埃爾·洛佩斯·奧夫拉多爾增加了對老年人的現金援助。然而，即使現金援助措施會在他任期結束后延續（他將于2024年卸任），隨著老年人數量的增長，目前也不清楚現金能否持續支撐這一措施。

12 A few states are trying to provide more care.In Veracruz,which is ageing faster than all but two of Mexico’s 32 states,the local health authority runs three public homes that look after 120 people.And some private firms are stepping in,too,by hiring the elderly,whom they praise as enthusiastic and diligent.Walmart,an American supermarket chain with branches in Mexico,hires over-60s to bag groceries.When Walmart said it would end the practice in the pandemic,the elderly packers protested.They are now back at the checkouts,double-masked.■

12 部分州正努力為老年人提供更多的護理服務。在墨西哥的32 個州中，韋拉克魯斯州的老齡化速度位列第三，當地的衛生部門共經營三家公立養老院，照顧著120 位老人。一些私人企業也參與進來，支持的方式是雇用被其稱贊為熱情、勤奮的老年人。在墨西哥設有分店的美國連鎖超市沃爾瑪雇用60 歲以上的老年人包裝雜貨。沃爾瑪提出在疫情期間不再雇用老年人時，這些年長的打包員表示抗議。如今，他們戴著雙層口罩又回到了收銀臺前。 □