少吃牛油果就能买得起房？千禧一代不服

Millennials have enough problems as it is. Must they give up their avocado toast, too?

千禧一代已经面临足够多的问题了。他们还必须放弃牛油果吐司吗?

In an interview with Australia’s “60 Minutes” on Monday, Tim Gurner, a 35-year-old real estate mogul in Melbourne, suggested that young adults would be more likely to be able to buy a home if they curbed their discretionary spending, citing that expensive brunch item.

35岁的墨尔本房地产大亨蒂姆·古纳(Tim Gurner)本周一在接受澳大利亚《六十分钟》(60 Minutes)节目采访时建议，年轻人如果遏制自己的自由支出，比如早午餐不吃牛油果吐司，那么买房的可能性就可能会更大。

“When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each,” he said. “We’re at a point now where the expectations of younger people are very, very high. They want to eat out every day; they want travel to Europe every year.

“当我试图买第一套住房时，我不会买19美元(约合130元人民币)的碎牛油果，也不会每杯4美元的咖啡买4杯，”他说。“我们现在这个时代，年轻人的期望非常高，非常高。他们每天都要去餐厅吃饭，每年都想去欧洲旅游。”

“The people that own homes today worked very, very hard for it,” he said, adding that they “saved every dollar, did everything they could to get up the property investment ladder.”

他说：“今天拥有房子的人，曾经非常非常努力，”他说，他们“节省了每一元钱，竭尽所能，在房地产投资的阶梯上攀登”。

The advice spread on social media, and it was not well received. Some found the statement impractical or insulting.

这个建议在社交媒体上传播开来，但并不受欢迎。有些人觉得这个说法不切实际，或者带有侮辱性。

In fact, research suggests that people from 18 to 34, a group often referred to as millennials, are no more freewheeling with their spending on travel and dining than other generations. And it would take a lot of skipped avocados to put a dent in the heavy costs of homeownership, which is not always a prudent financial goal.

事实上，研究表明，通常被称为“千禧一代”的群体，也就是从18岁到34岁的人群，在旅游和餐饮方面的支出并不比别的世代更随性。房子价格昂贵，为了买房需要放弃大量的牛油果，而购房并不总是精明的财务目标。

According to the Food Institute, which analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics expenditure data from 2015, people from 25 to 34 spent, on average, $3,097 on eating out. Data for this age group through the decades was not readily available. But the bureau’s report indicated that this group spent $305 more than people from 55 to 64 — a group that encompasses some baby boomers — and $89 more than the overall average, including spending among people ages 35 to 54.

根据食品研究所(Food Institute)对2015年劳工统计局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的支出数据所做的分析，25至34岁人群去餐厅吃饭的平均消费额为3097美元。这个年龄段几十年以来的数据不好找。但该局的报告指出，这个群体比55到64岁的人群多出305美元——该群体包括一些婴儿潮一代——而且比总体平均水平高出89美元，其中包括年龄在35到54岁人群的支出。

The truth is, even if millennials assumed the eating-out habits of baby boomers, it would take around 113 years before they could afford a down payment on a home (assuming a 20 percent down payment on the median price for a home in the United States, $315,000 in March 2017, and a 1 percent yearly yield rate).

事实是，即使千禧一代继承了婴儿潮一代外出就餐的习惯，他们也要花大约113年的时间，才能付得起买房的首付(假设首付比例是20%，美国2017年3月的房屋价格中位数是31.5万美元，年收益率为1%)。

Yes, you would surely save money by choosing to make your own avocado toast at home (perhaps with some cucumber soup).

诚然，的确可以通过选择在家自制牛油果吐司(或许还可以搭配黄瓜羹)省钱。

The average price of a single avocado in March was $1.25, according to the Hass Avocado Board. One Twitter user, Nora Biette-Timmons, calculated that a serving of avocado toast cost her about $1.65 — or one-477,896th the average price of a home in Brooklyn. Compare that with New York City brunch prices, where you are likely to spend $10 to $20 for ornately dressed toast, and the savings are clear.

据哈斯牛油果协会(Hass Avocado Board)称，3月，一枚牛油果的均价是1.25美元。在Twitter上，用户Nora Biette-Timmons计算出她在家做一块牛油果吐司要大约1.65美元，也就是布鲁克林房屋均价的477896分之一。和纽约市豪华吐司可能要花10到20美元的早午餐价格相比，省钱很明显。

But all generations of Americans are eating out more now, with food away from home rising to 43.1 percent of food expenditures in 2012, from 25.9 percent in 1970. It is not clear if millennials are driving that trend.

但现在，所有美国人在外面吃饭的频率都增加了，外出就餐费用在餐饮花费中所占的比例，从1970年的25.9%增加到了2012年的43.1%。尚不清楚是不是千禧一代在推动这个趋势。

As for Mr. Gurner’s second suggestion — skipping the European vacation — there is indeed an opportunity for savings, but research suggests millennials are the generation spending the least on travel.

对于古纳的第二个建议——放弃去欧洲度假——的确是省钱，但研究表明，千禧一代是在旅游上面开支最少的一代人。

Millennials spent $4,832 per year on vacations, just below the $5,078 by Gen-Xers and $5,012 by boomers, according to MMGY Global’s Portrait of American Travelers in 2016. The study surveyed 2,948 adult travelers with annual incomes over $50,000.

MMGY Global在2016年发布的《美国旅行者报告》(Portrait of American Travelers)显示，千禧一代每年在旅游上的支出为4832美元，低于X一代(婴儿潮后出生的一代——译注)的5078美元和婴儿潮一代的5012美元。该研究调查了年收入在5万美元以上的2948名成年旅行者。

Millennials were less likely than older generations to say they were cutting back on travel because of budget concerns but were also more likely to have difficulty getting time off work. They were also more likely to say they were too busy to get away.

和老一代相比，千禧一代不大会说因为预算方面的担忧而削减旅游开支，他们也的确抽不出时间休假。他们会说自己太忙，无法脱身。

Another wrinkle in pitting age-specific preferences against buying a house: Homeownership is historically lower among young adults and has declined across most age groups since the 2008 financial crisis as the ratio of home prices to median household income has climbed.

还有一个导致特定年龄群体不买房的问题是：从历史上看，目前年轻人当中的住房自有率降处于较低水平，并且自2008年金融危机以来，随着房价与家庭收入中位数的比率攀升，大部分年龄群体中的住房自有率都下降了。