By Richard Godwin

How much do you earn？ There are few questions that British people find so excruciating1—or rude. Walking around Bristol on a heaven-scented spring day， buttonholing random strangers about their personal finances， I sense most would prefer it if I were asking when they last passed stool， or voted Conservative.2

“Id say thats a cheek3！” says a gentleman in his 80s. But why？“Im British， thats why. My business is my business.”

I try a younger guy in athletic gear， performing stretches by a park bench.4 “If you aint paying me， I aint interested，” he says. A model neoliberal5 citizen.

I approach a couple of mothers in the park and cast a shadow over their picnic rug6. One is a stay-at-home mum； the other is not. “Its not something you want to talk about in front of your friends， is it， what you earn？” the latter says. “Some people are underpaid， some people are overpaid， life isnt fair.” Her friend pointedly attends to her child.7 I apologise for ruining their lunch.

Its awkward， isnt it？ The median annual income in the UK， according to the most recent Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings，8 is￡28，677 for full-time employees. Jeremy Corbyns last published tax return puts his income at￡136，762； Theresa Mays was￡117，350 but she hasnt published one since she became prime minister； David Cameron never published a tax return， but he did publish his earnings in light of the Panama Papers scandal：￡200，307 from salary and rent in 2014/15.9 José Mourinho10 is on a reported￡15m at Manchester United and is apparently unhappy. Chris Evans11 makes more than￡2.2m at the BBC. A nurse starts at￡22，128. It ought to be one of the least personal things about us—a simple data point， one thats not so hard to estimate， surely—and yet clearly its emotive. “I dont think thats a very nice conversation to have publicly at all，” as Kate Winslet told the BBC when pressed on the issue of gender pay disparities in Hollywood a couple of years ago.12 “It seems quite a strange thing to be discussing out in the open like that. I am a very lucky woman and Im quite happy with how things are ticking along13.”

The squeamishness is not limited to Britain—Donald Trump is in no rush to publish his tax returns—but it is acute here，14 and only made more so by the recent revelations about the gender pay gap. In Sweden， Norway and Finland， you can look up anyones salary online—a practice dating back to the 18th century. （Well， not the online bit.） And even with much more equal parental rights， they still have gender pay gaps similar to ours， about 15%—18%. In Massachusetts and other US states， less transparency is touted as the answer；15 employers arent allowed to ask what your previous salary was when you apply for a new job， to stop low pay following women and minorities throughout their career. And perhaps theres something to be said for not knowing. A recently qualified teacher I know—whose salary I might estimate at about￡24，000—defended our reticence：“Its a British thing which I am proud of—it seems crassly materialistic to discuss money in detail with acquaintances， or even friends.”16

Still， we are increasingly being encouraged to drop our financial pants—at least in front of our immediate colleagues—as a means not only of addressing pay inequality，17 but also of changing the balance of power between employers and employees. Ive been noticing friends open up a lot more about their finances， admitting they， too， spend an inordinate amount of time on moneysavingexpert.com， wondering： “How on earth does anyone else do it？”18 No wonder： the LSE recently calculated that British workers have seen the second worst wage growth in the OECD （after Greece）， with wages falling 5% between 2007 and 2015 once adjusted for inflation.19 Income inequality is widening； society is fragmenting across class， age， gender and racial faultlines； envious， curious glances are cast.20

And since April， when 10，000 or so British companies were obliged to publish data on gender pay gaps under the Equalities Act， weve had even more numbers to pore over.21 About 78% of British companies pay men more than women. Men earn on average 18.4% more than women， or 9.7% if you go by the median hourly rate. The Guardians 22 own gender pay gap is 12.1% in favour of men. I am freelance， so have been spared the tortured intra-office conversations， but when I last worked full-time （at the Evening Standard 23， which has a 5.8% pay gap in favour of women， to my surprise）， it was a constant source of tension. Everyone knew that pay levels varied unpredictably and unfairly—and that the people who were good at getting raises were almost never the people who were good at their jobs. Still， while there was a bit of income solidarity among the younger （ie lower-paid） members of staff， hardly anyone else was willing to enter into an “Ill show you mine” pact.24 Its true theres sometimes an advantage in being paid less—youre less likely to be made redundant25. But I couldnt help noticing that when I eventually revealed my final salary to a female colleague after Id left， she promptly26 left， too.

“How much do you earn then？” David asks me.

None of your… oh， OK. My gross income27 was ￡70，242 on my last tax return， which would put me in the top 5% of British earners. I find that at once reassuring and awkward. Once I lopped off28 expenses， my income was￡49，250. And once Id done my bit， chipping in for the NHS， a few military operations， pensions， etc， I was left with￡32，165.29 Which makes me think， hmm， maybe I should start a craft cider30 business.

“Thats such a boring question！” says Jahnava， 45. “I thought it was going to be something juicy31.” She works for a charity called Coracle， which provides her a salary of about ￡5，000. Woah， thats not much， I say. “I rely on the Lord.” You would say that. What about food， shelter？ “Its provided by the charity.”

“Maybe British people are too much in their minds？” Jahnava says. “At the end of the day， it doesnt matter how much money you have to live. If you have food， shelter and your health， theres nothing to stop you from being completely content. I was watching this video of a famous person being followed around by the paparazzi32， and I realised how these people have sacrificed all of their privacy and freedom for their fame and wealth. I wouldnt give that up for any price.”

1. excruciating：法忍受的。

2. 在一個鳥語花香的春日，我漫步在布里斯托爾街頭，隨便抓住一位陌生人詢問他們的個人財務(wù)狀況，我感覺大部分人寧愿告訴我他們最后一次如廁是什么時候，或者最后一次投票給保守黨是什么時候。Bristol：布里斯托爾，英國英格蘭西南部城市；buttonhole： 抓住別人的衣紐，指勉強(qiáng)別人傾聽或交談；pass： 排泄；stool： 大便；Conservative： 保守黨。

3. cheek： 沒有禮貌、冒失的言語或行為。

4. athletic gear： 運動服；stretch： 伸展運動。

5. neoliberal： 新自由主義的。

6. rug： 小地毯。

7. pointedly： 直截了當(dāng)?shù)?，批評性地；attend to： 照料。

8. median： 在中間的，中位數(shù)的；Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings：《工時和薪酬年度調(diào)查》。

9. Jeremy Corbyn： 杰里米·科爾賓，英國工黨領(lǐng)袖；tax return： 納稅申報單；Theresa May： 特雷莎·瑪麗·梅，英國保守黨政治家，2016年7月起出任英國首相和保守黨黨魁；David Cameron： 戴維·卡梅倫，英國前首相；in light of： 考慮到，由于……的結(jié)果；Panama Papers scandal： 巴拿馬文件丑聞，巴拿馬文件是國際調(diào)查記者同盟（ICIJ）于2016年披露的一批機(jī)密文件，揭露了各國政治人物與精英們未曝光的海外資產(chǎn)。

10. José Mourinho： 何塞·穆里尼奧，英國足球超級聯(lián)賽曼聯(lián)隊（Manchester United）主教練。

11. Chris Evans： 克里斯·埃文斯，美國著名演員、導(dǎo)演，“美國隊長”的扮演者。

12. Kate Winslet： 凱特·溫斯萊特，英國著名演員；disparity： 差異，不平等。

13. tick along：（事情）進(jìn)展。

14. squeamishness： 神經(jīng)質(zhì)，過分拘謹(jǐn)；Donald Trump： 唐納德·特朗普，美國現(xiàn)任總統(tǒng)。

15. transparency： 透明（度）；be touted as： 被認(rèn)為。

16. 我認(rèn)識的一位新晉教師為我們就薪資的沉默辯護(hù)，他/她的薪水我估計在24，000英鎊左右。這位老師說：“這是英國人的一個特質(zhì)，我引以為豪，因為與熟人甚至朋友詳細(xì)討論錢的事，會給人感覺很粗俗很拜金?！眗eticence： 沉默；crassly：粗俗地；materialistic： 唯物主義的，物質(zhì)至上的。

17. pants： 褲子，這里指所隱瞞的事物；address： 處理，解決。

18. inordinate： 過度的； moneysavingexpert.com： 理財網(wǎng)站，提供日常生活中減少花費的技巧和方法。

19. LSE： 全稱London School of Economics and Political Science，倫敦政治經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院；OECD： 全稱Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development，經(jīng)濟(jì)合作與發(fā)展組織；inflation： 通貨膨脹。

20. 收入不平等在擴(kuò)大，社會在階層、年齡、性別和種族間分化，嫉妒和疑竇滋生。faultline： 斷裂帶，斷層線。

21. Equalities Act： 英國《平等法》，新《平等法》于2010年開始生效，為了確保男女同工同酬，要求雇主公開男女員工的薪資差別；pore over： 研究。

22. The Guardian：《衛(wèi)報》，英國的全國性綜合內(nèi)容日報。

23. Evening Standard ：《倫敦標(biāo)準(zhǔn)晚報》，倫敦當(dāng)?shù)氐囊环菝赓M日報，周一至周五以小報的形式出版。

24. solidarity： 團(tuán)結(jié)，一致；pact： 契約，協(xié)定。

25. redundant： 失業(yè)的，下崗的。

26. promptly： 立刻，馬上。

27. gross income： 毛收入，總收益。

28. lop off： 砍掉，切掉。

29. 而當(dāng)我盡點兒英國公民的義務(wù)，比如為公費醫(yī)療體系、國家的軍事行動和退休金計劃等繳納完資金之后，我就只剩下32，165英鎊了。chip in： 捐助；NHS： National Health Service，英國國家醫(yī)療服務(wù)體系；pension： 養(yǎng)老金，退休金。

30. cider： 用作飲料或制醋用的蘋果汁、蘋果酒。

31. juicy： 生動有趣的，妙趣橫生的。

32. paparazzi： 狗仔隊。