美国中产阶级家庭的经济风险

The Middle Class on the Precipice—Rising Financial Risks for American Families(悬崖边上的中产阶级——美国家庭面临的经济风险增加) During the past generation, the American middle-class family that once could count on hard work and fair play to keep itself financially secure had been transformed by economic risk and new realities. Now a pink slip, a bad diagnosis, or a disappearing spouse can reduce a family from solidly middle class to newly poor in a few months.
In just one generation, millions of mothers have gone to work, transforming basic family economics. Scholars, policymakers, and critics of all stripes have debated the social implications of these changes, but few have looked at the side effect: family risk has risen as well. Today’s families have budgeted to the limits of their new two-paycheck status. As a result, they have lost the parachute they once had in times of financial setback——a back-up earner (usually Mom) who could go into the workface if the primary earner got laid off or fell sick. This “added-worker effect”could support the safety net offered by unemployment insurance or disability insurance to help families weather bad times. But today, disruption family fortunes can no longer be made up with extra income from an otherwise-stay-at-home partner.
During the same period, families have been asked to absorb much more risk in their retirement income. Steelworkers, airline employees, and now those in the auto industry are joining millions of families who must worry about interest rates, stock market fluctuation, and the harsh reality that may outlive their retirement money. For much of the past year, President Bush campaigned to move Social Security to a saving-account model, with retirees trading much or all of their guaranteed payments for payments depending on investment returns. For younger families, the picture is not any better. Both the absolute cost of healthcare and the share of it borne by families have risen—and newly fashionable health-savings plans are spreading from legislative halls to Wal-Mart workers, with much higher deductibles and a large new dose of investment risk for families’future healthcare. Even demographics are working against the middle class family, as the odds of having a weak elderly parent—and all the attendant need for physical and financial assistance—have jumped eightfold in just one generation.
From the middle-class family perspective, much of this, understandably, looks far less like an opportunity to exercise more financial responsibility, and a good deal more like a frightening acceleration of the wholesale shift of financial risk onto their already overburdened shoulders. The financial fallout has begun, and the political fallout may not be far behind.
在上一代人中，美国中产阶级家庭曾经依靠努力工作和公平竞争就能使自己的经济状况保持稳定，而现在经济危机和新的现实状况改变了这一切。

现在，一纸解雇通知单，一个恶性诊断结果或是配偶的离去都能使一个稳固的中产阶级家庭在几个月的时间里沦为新的贫穷家庭。

仅仅在一代人的时间里，数百万的母亲外出工作，从而改变了基本的家庭经济状况。

各行各业的学者、政策制定者及评论家都在讨论这些变化的社会意义，
但很少人看到其副作用：家庭风险也增加了。

现在，家庭的开支预算已经达到了双收入这种新经济状况的极限。

结果，他们失去了经济困难时期曾经拥有的保护伞——如果主要的挣钱者失业了或是生病了，还有候补者（通常是母亲）可以外出工作。

这种“附加劳动者效应”能过加强事业保险或伤残保险所提供的安全保障，以帮助家庭度过困难。

但是现在，家庭定财产遭受的损失再也无法通过本来赋闲在家的配偶的额外收入来弥补了。

同时，家庭的退休收入也将承受更多的风险。

钢铁工人、航空公司员工以及现在从事汽车行业的员工和几百万家庭一样，他们不得不为利率的变化、股市的波动和退休金不够他们养老的残酷现实而担忧。

去年的大部分时间，布什总统竞选时力图将社会保障体系变成储蓄账户的模式，在这种模式下，退休人员把大部分或全部有保障的收入变成依赖投资回报的收入。

对年轻一些的家庭来说，前景同样不乐观。

医疗保健的绝对成本和其中家庭承担的份额都增加了——而且最新流行的健康储蓄计划正从议会厅推广到沃尔玛的工人那里，这样，医疗保险的扣减金额会更高，家庭未来的医疗保健面临大量新增的投资风险。

甚至人口统计数据都对中产阶级家庭不利，因为有一个年老体弱的父亲或母亲——以及随之而来的生理和经济援助的需要——的几率仅在一代人的时间里就增加了8倍。