By Stuart McEvoy
In Melbournes southeastern suburbs,“Double Income No Kids” couples such as Dean and Tracey Farrugia are in a state of transition. They are planning on having children, and once the kids arrive, they are prepared for their lifestyle of relative excess to 2)evaporate with the sudden leap into family life.
In the inner-west Sydney suburb of Erskineville—where almost one-fifth of all households are DINK homes—Ben Careless, 37, and his partner of 14 years, Kathleen Ryan, 33, say it would be “too much of a culture shock” to have kids now and uproot their lifestyle. “Life is too good at the moment to go down that avenue,” Mr. Careless said. “Itd be a big culture shock for both of us, having such social lives, to eventually have to knock it back a few gears.”
Changing social norms have seen a distinction emerge between outer-suburban DINKs planning children and inner-city DINKs who havent made plans for children at all and possibly never will.
An analysis of 2011 census data by the Australians social editor, Bernard Salt, has revealed the split between those child-free couples aged 20 to 49, with a combined income of at least $104,000 a year.
在澳大利亞墨爾本東南郊,丁克家庭如迪安和特蕾西·法魯吉亞正處于一個(gè)過(guò)渡期。他們計(jì)劃要孩子,而一旦孩子降臨,他們就準(zhǔn)備為此而改變生活方式,突然進(jìn)入家庭生活,以前略有盈余的生活就會(huì)消失。
在悉尼內(nèi)城西郊的厄斯金城,幾乎有五分之一的家庭屬于丁克家庭。37歲的本·卡勒萊斯,以及和他一起相處了14年的伴侶——33歲的凱瑟琳·瑞安都說(shuō),如果現(xiàn)在要孩子的話將會(huì)有“太多的文化沖擊”,而且還會(huì)改變現(xiàn)今的生活方式。“此時(shí)此刻的生活很美好,我們不愿為了孩子而讓美好的生活消失?!笨ɡ杖R斯先生說(shuō)。“這對(duì)我們倆都會(huì)有一個(gè)很大的文化沖擊,面對(duì)這樣的社會(huì)生活,如果有了孩子我們得放慢生活節(jié)奏?!?/p>
在遠(yuǎn)郊的計(jì)劃要孩子的丁克家庭以及內(nèi)城的從來(lái)沒(méi)有計(jì)劃過(guò)要孩子的丁克家庭中,改變社會(huì)準(zhǔn)則看來(lái)是有很大的區(qū)別的。
一項(xiàng)由《澳大利亞人報(bào)》社會(huì)編輯伯納德·索爾特進(jìn)行的2011人口普查數(shù)據(jù)分析表明,在兩人年總收入至少達(dá)十萬(wàn)四千澳元、年齡在20到49歲之間的不生育的夫妻中存在分歧。
Suburban DINKs such as the Farrugias are springing up in outer-metropolitan areas such as Botanic Ridge in Melbourne, The Ponds in NSW and Augustine Heights in Brisbane.
Mr. Farrugia, 28, said their new 700 block at Botanic Ridge allowed them to build a bigger home where he and 41-year-old Mrs. Farrugia hope to start a family. The two have been together for eight years and got married in 2011.
“The size of the land out here is great.” said Mr. Farrugia, who works as a client services manager for a company that provides printers to businesses. “A block that big is a real rarity these days, and weve got a great view of open farmland. We think its a wonderful place to start a family.” Mr. Farrugia said he and Mrs. Farrugia, an insurance assessor, enjoyed having a larger disposable income while they remained a DINK family. “We do spend more on shopping and traveling, and all those things you can do when you dont have kids,” he said.
Mining communities such as Trunding—near Weipa in Queensland—are also experiencing a DINK revolution as 3)savvy couples exploit a personal resources boom in the lead-up to children. In the resources communities of Roxby Downs, in South Australia, and Nickol, a suburb of Karratha, 12% of households belong to the DINKs.
4)Textbook DINKs, such as Mr. Careless and Ms. Ryan, 5)gravitate to the nations urban heartland, in suburbs such as Brisbanes Teneriffe—16% of homes—and Melbournes Cremorne, which is the top-ranking dual-income, childfree zone in the country at 19%.
像法魯吉亞夫婦這樣的城郊丁克在大城市外圍也日益增多,比如墨爾本的植物嶺區(qū)、新南威爾士州的池塘區(qū),以及布里斯班的奧古斯丁高地區(qū)等。
28歲的法魯吉亞先生說(shuō),他們?cè)谥参飵X區(qū)的700平方米的新地塊讓他們可以建造更大的家,他和41歲的法魯吉亞夫人希望在那里生個(gè)孩子。他們?cè)谝黄鹨呀?jīng)八年了,并在2011年結(jié)了婚。
“這里遠(yuǎn)離城區(qū),土地面積都是很驚人的?!痹谝患覟槠髽I(yè)提供打印機(jī)的公司任客戶服務(wù)經(jīng)理一職的法魯吉亞先生如是說(shuō)。“那么大的一塊地在如今是很罕見(jiàn)的,并且我們還可以看到開(kāi)闊的農(nóng)田。我們覺(jué)得這里是一個(gè)生寶寶的很不錯(cuò)的地方?!狈敿獊喯壬f(shuō)他和妻子 —— 一名保險(xiǎn)公估員,都認(rèn)為在他們做丁克的時(shí)候可以有更多的可支配收入?!拔覀兇_實(shí)在購(gòu)物和旅游上花了很多錢(qián),在你還沒(méi)有孩子的時(shí)候你當(dāng)然可以那樣做?!彼f(shuō)。
像靠近昆士蘭韋帕的辰丁這樣的礦區(qū),也在經(jīng)歷著一場(chǎng)丁克革命,那些有見(jiàn)識(shí)的夫婦在要孩子之前都盡量利用自身的資源。在澳大利亞南部的洛克斯比城,以及卡拉塔的尼克郊區(qū),這樣以自然資源為產(chǎn)業(yè)的地區(qū)有12%的家庭屬于丁克一族。
像卡勒萊斯先生和瑞安小姐這樣的典型丁克家庭,正向城市的中心地帶轉(zhuǎn)移到了郊區(qū),比如布里斯班的坦納利佛有16%的家庭屬于丁克,墨爾本的科利莫爾是全國(guó)夫妻收入排行第一的無(wú)孩區(qū),這里有19%的家庭是丁克一族。
Ms. Ryan, a marketing manager, and Mr. Careless, a project manager for an electrical company, have lived in Erskineville for 10 years and own two properties in the DINK hotspot. The couple, who earn more than$150,000 a year together, are happy spending their money on good food, good drink and their two good dogs, Keiko and Indie.
身為市場(chǎng)部經(jīng)理的瑞安女士以及電力公司項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理的卡勒萊斯先生已經(jīng)在厄斯金城生活了十年,在丁克集中的區(qū)域擁有兩處房產(chǎn)。這對(duì)情侶的年總收入超過(guò)十五萬(wàn)澳元。他們樂(lè)此不疲地把錢(qián)花在好吃好喝上,還有他們的兩條可愛(ài)的狗狗凱科和因迪上。