“美国梦”渐行渐远

    美国梦的一个基本信条就是，一代更比一代强。目前的经济大衰退对这一信条造成了猛烈冲击。大多数人将其归咎于房市危机。他们认为，房市危机导致许多家庭无力承担房贷，并丧失家园。一份新的调查结果显示，现在又出现了另外一个新的问题，使人们在追逐美国梦的道路上更加举步维艰。

    布鲁金斯学会（Brookings Institution）汉密尔顿计划（Hamilton Project）的一份报告显示，典型美国家庭的收入较十年前有所增加。但是，这主要是因为家庭中父母的工作时间比以前更长了，而他们的工资并未出现实质增长。

    目前，美国的失业率高达9%，导致许多家庭陷入困境。当然，那些有幸保住工作的家庭同样也面临困难。该报告显示，自1975年以来，双亲家庭的平均收入增长了23%。但是与25年前相比，2009年双亲家庭的工作时间延长了26%。这些数据表明，越来越多的女性正在加入劳动力大军；这同时也表明，虽然工作时间有所延长，但是收入并没有同步增长。

    随着传统核心家庭结构的解体的解体，更多问题浮出水面，而这些数据只揭示了人们面临的部分问题。过去35年来，结婚率的下降使单亲家庭的数量增长了一倍。这些单亲家庭的年工作时间比1975年增长了53%，收入则增长了69%。尽管如此，单亲家庭平均收入约为16,500美元——不足双亲家庭收入的四分之一。更何况在这样的家庭中，经济负担只能由一人承担。

    布鲁金斯学会的研究与另一项研究的结论不谋而合：美国工人的生产能力不断提高，而收入却未同步增长。但是，该研究也凸显了他们未来面临的深层次问题。房地产市场的崩溃和随之而来的经济大衰退迫使许多工人失业，许多家庭债台高筑，这使得他们不得不重新审视美国梦的定义。下一代人甚至怀疑他们的美国梦到底能否实现。

    加拿大格鲁斯基-谢菲资产管理公司（Gluskin Sheff）的经济学家大卫•罗森博在最近的一份报告中指出，婴儿潮时期出生的人通常把拥有房产视为退休后资产，而与他们不同的是，此后出生的8,200万“千禧一代”更倾向于租房而非买房。在今后一段时间内，他们仍可能继续为房地产市场的混乱买单。过去四年房价上涨了35%，不仅抑制了消费需求，也导致许多公司不再招聘人手。

    所以， 对“山姆大叔” 未来的子民来说，工资停滞不前并非他们面临的头号难题——首要的是谋得一份差事。

    （翻译 乔树静）

    A key tenet of the American Dream is that each generation will do better than the last. That principle was severely shaken by the Great Recession. Most of the blame rested on the housing crisis, which forced families out of homes they couldn't afford. Now a new study suggests there's another measure of well being that's keeping Americans from fulfilling the dream.

    The typical American family earns more today than it did decades ago. But that's mostly because parents are working longer hours -- not because their wages have risen that much more -- according to a report from the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project.

    Households today are struggling with an unemployment rate hovering above 9%. And those lucky enough to have jobs aren't free of challenges. Median wages for two-parent families grew 23% since 1975, according to the study. But in 2009, two-parent households worked 26% longer than those two and a half decades ago. The figures reflect more women entering the workforce, but it also implies that wages haven't increased as much as the rise in worker hours would suggest.

    Those numbers capture only part of the challenge as the traditional nuclear family breaks up. A drop in the marriage rate has resulted in a doubling of single-parent households over the past three and a half decades. In those households, annual hours have risen 53% since 1975, while earnings growth has grown by 69% during the same period. Nevertheless, at single-parent households where the financial burden tends to fall on one earner, median earnings are about $16,500 -- which is less than one-fourth that of a two-parent family.

    The Brookings study echoes the conclusions of other research that show American workers are producing more without a corresponding rise in wages. But it also highlights deeper problems that workers are facing down the road. The crash of the real estate market plus the deep recession that followed forced many out-of-work and heavily indebted families to reexamine the notion of the American Dream. And future generations are wondering if it's even a possibility.

    Gluskin Sheff Economist David Rosenberg notes in a recent report that unlike baby boomers who often viewed homeownership as a retirement asset, the larger group of 82 million Millennials that followed are more apt to rent than buy. And they'll likely be paying for the shambles of the real estate market for a while. The 35% spiral in home prices nationwide over the past four years has constrained consumer demand, stalling companies from hiring more employees.

    So for future generations, stagnant wages won't be the only big issue; they'll have to find a job first.