紐時賞析／美民眾自認與中產漸行漸遠

水电费用等基本开销愈来愈让美国居民吃不消，上街抗议要求降价。纽约时报

Economic Fear Running Deep, Times Poll Says

美民众自认与中产渐行渐远

Americans are deeply pessimistic about their economic future, driven by financial anxiety among all but the oldest Americans and by a widespread belief that a middle-class lifestyle is out of reach for most people, a New York Times/Siena poll found.

纽约时报与谢纳学院的民调显示，除了年长者，几乎所有年龄层的美国人都有财务焦虑，且大多数人认为中产阶级生活遥不可及，使他们对于自己的经济前景深感悲观。

While a majority of people said that they could afford basics like rent, gas and groceries, most said they worry about the costs, and there was a pronounced sense that it has become more difficult, if not nearly impossible, to get ahead in America today.

虽然多数受访者表示仍负担得起房租、汽油与日常饮食等基本开销，但大多数人也坦言，对这些费用感到忧心，且普遍认为如今在美国想要向上翻身，已变得更加困难，甚至几乎不可能。

Majorities of voters said they do not feel confident in their ability to pay for housing, retirement and health care, all traditional staples of a middle-class lifestyle. Separately, more than half said housing and education are now so expensive that both have become unaffordable.

大多数选民表示，他们对于自己支付住房、退休生活和医疗保健费用，即所有传统中产阶级生活的基本要素感到没有信心。另外，超过半数选民说，房价与教育费用如今高得难以承受，两者都已变得负担不起。

Those rising costs have shifted perceptions of America as a place of upward economic mobility dominated by a comfortable middle class. Two-thirds of voters said they now think a middle-class lifestyle is out of reach for most people, and 77% say it has gotten harder to achieve than a generation ago.

上涨的费用改变人们的看法，不再认为美国是个经济向上流动、由生活舒适的中产阶级主导的国家。3分之2的选民表示，他们现在认为大多数人无法过上中产阶级生活，且77%的人说，现在要达到中产阶级生活比上一代困难。

The economic worries persist across geographic, gender and racial lines. The only voters who seem less stressed economically are those older than 65, who express far fewer concerns about costs.

这种经济焦虑横跨地区、性别与族群。唯一在经济上显得压力较小的，是65岁以上的选民，他们对生活成本的担忧明显较少。

Nearly 60% of voters said they worry about affording the very basics — rent, gas, routine bills and groceries — and 11% said they could not afford them at all.

将近60%的选民表示，他们担心是否能负担最基本的开销，包括房租、汽油、日常帐单与食品杂货；另有 11%的受访者坦言，这些基本支出完全负担不起。

Half of voters younger than 45 described themselves as generally worse off financially than their parents were at their age, and just 10% feel they are getting ahead financially. A majority of those voters say the cost of having a family has become unaffordable. And as traditional pensions disappear and Social Security faces a financing shortfall, 75% of voters younger than 65 say they cannot afford the cost of retirement or feel insecure about it.

45岁以下的选民中，有一半形容自己目前的财务状况，整体而言比父母在同年龄时更差，仅有10%觉得自己经济状况较好。这个年龄层的多数选民表示，负担不起成家费用。随着传统退休金制度逐渐消失、社会安全制度面临财务缺口，65岁以下的选民中，有75%表示无法负担退休生活费用，或对退休生活感到不安。

Voters older than 65 consistently expressed far less anxiety about costs. When asked what they worry about affording, 24% said “nothing.” Nearly 60% of older voters described themselves as “holding steady” financially, while 40% of voters younger than 30 said they were “falling behind.”

65岁以上选民对生活成本的焦虑向来明显较低。他们被问及担心哪些方面难以负担时，有24%的人表示「没有」。近60%的年长选民形容他们自己财务状况「稳健」，而30岁以下选民有40%说自己的财务状况「落于人后」。

文／Lisa Lerer, Ruth Igielnik and Camille Baker，译／罗方妤

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