美国的经济蓬勃发展， 但美国的人民却艰难度日。 一位获奖作者解释了为什么 [美国媒体]

The economy is booming, yet Americans are struggling. An award-winning author explains why
Megan Leonhardt 10:47 AM ET Wed, 8 Aug 2018

美国的经济蓬勃发展， 但美国的人民却艰难度日。 一位获奖作者解释了为什么
梅根·李昂哈特， 2018年8月8日星期三



以上图表说明了美国的工资支票平均数额虽然比40年前更高， 但它们的购买力却基本上没有改变。 图中线条代表了按季度调整过的美国每小时工资的平均值， 绿色线条是按定价美元计算的， 橙色线条则是按现值美元计算的。 灰线代表经济衰退期。
注释： 以上是由皮尤研究中心提供的非农非管理部门生产岗位的工资数据。 “2018年定价美元”（绿线）是指通货膨胀调整后的工资。 “现值美元”（橙线）是指工资到手时的货币价值。 “购买力”是指每块钱能购买到的商品或服务。

The unemployment rate fell below 4 percent in July, the lowest it's been in nearly two decades. The job market is booming and the economy seems strong. But millions of Americans are still struggling to make ends meet.

七月份的失业率下降到4%以下， 这是近二十年来的最低点。 同时经济看上去也十分强劲。 然而数以百万计的美国人民仍然艰难度日， 过得捉襟见肘。

That's in large part because wages are not keeping up as day-to-day costs continue to soar, according to Alissa Quart, executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and author of the recently released book, "Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America."

“经济困境报备项目”的执行董事、同时也是新书《在夹缝中生活——为什么我们的家庭承受不起在美国的生活》的作者阿里萨·阔特认为， 这有很大的原因是因为我们的工资跟不上日渐高涨的日常花费。

"Stop blaming yourself and start blaming the system, or start blaming the deeper causes of your economic fragility and instability," Quart tells CNBC Make It. "There are forces that are constructed against you, everything from your taxes to whether you can have job security."

“是时候停止批评自己， 开始批评体制了， 或者也要开始批评让你处于经济上脆弱和不稳定状态的更深层原因， ”阔特对CNBC说，“从你要交多少税到你是否能拥有稳定地工作， 各种阻力被创造出来压制着你。”

Middle class life is now 30 percent more expensive than it was 20 years ago, Quart writes — and Americans are feeling the squeeze. Salaries just don't go as far as they did to cover the necessities. Pew Research recently found that the average paycheck has the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago.

阔特写道，中产阶级的生活成本和20年前相比贵了30%——而美国人正在感受这种压迫。工资能购买的必需品就是不如以前那么多了。皮尤研究中心最近发现， 工资支票平均数额现在的购买力和40年前是一样的。



And even that may not be enough. Americans born in the 1940s had a 92 percent chance at making more money than their parents. Millennials born in the 1980s only have about a 50 percent chance of doing the same, according to a 2016 study by the Equality of Opportunity Project.

就算如此可能也不够。 根据“机会公平项目”在2016年作出的一项调查， 上世纪四十年代出生的美国人有92%的机会赚到比父母更多的钱。 而在上世纪八十年代出生的千禧一代只有大约50%的机会能达到这一目标。

They have less help from safety nets and their employers, too. For example, most young Americans no longer have access to the pensions a lot of their parents and grandparents relied on, and health care costs are often unpredictable and also increasingly expensive, Quart says.
"There used to be a steady, almost boring quality to being middle class," Quart says. "Now it implies insecurity and instability."

他们从社会安全保障网和雇主那里得到的帮助也更少。 比如说， 大多数美国年轻人不再能拿到他们中很多人的父母和祖父母曾经依赖的救济金了， 而医疗健康的花费也常常不但无法预料而且日渐昂贵， 阔特说：“作为中产阶级， 曾经有着一种稳定到近乎乏味的特质； 但现在， 中产却意味着不安全感和不稳定感。”