紐時賞析／美民眾自認與中產漸行漸遠

Economic Fear Running Deep, Times Poll Says

美民眾自認與中產漸行漸遠

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.

紐約時報與謝納學院的民調顯示，除了年長者，幾乎所有年齡層的美國人都有財務焦慮，且大多數人認為中產階級生活遙不可及，使他們對於自己的經濟前景深感悲觀。

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.

雖然多數受訪者表示仍負擔得起房租、汽油與日常飲食等基本開銷，但大多數人也坦言，對這些費用感到憂心，且普遍認為如今在美國想要向上翻身，已變得更加困難，甚至幾乎不可能。

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.

大多數選民表示，他們對於自己支付住房、退休生活和醫療保健費用，即所有傳統中產階級生活的基本要素感到沒有信心。另外，超過半數選民說，房價與教育費用如今高得難以承受，兩者都已變得負擔不起。

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.

上漲的費用改變人們的看法，不再認為美國是個經濟向上流動、由生活舒適的中產階級主導的國家。3分之2的選民表示，他們現在認為大多數人無法過上中產階級生活，且77%的人說，現在要達到中產階級生活比上一代困難。

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.

這種經濟焦慮橫跨地區、性別與族群。唯一在經濟上顯得壓力較小的，是65歲以上的選民，他們對生活成本的擔憂明顯較少。

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.

將近60%的選民表示，他們擔心是否能負擔最基本的開銷，包括房租、汽油、日常帳單與食品雜貨；另有 11%的受訪者坦言，這些基本支出完全負擔不起。

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歲以下的選民中，有一半形容自己目前的財務狀況，整體而言比父母在同年齡時更差，僅有10%覺得自己經濟狀況較好。這個年齡層的多數選民表示，負擔不起成家費用。隨著傳統退休金制度逐漸消失、社會安全制度面臨財務缺口，65歲以下的選民中，有75%表示無法負擔退休生活費用，或對退休生活感到不安。

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歲以上選民對生活成本的焦慮向來明顯較低。他們被問及擔心哪些方面難以負擔時，有24%的人表示「沒有」。近60%的年長選民形容他們自己財務狀況「穩健」，而30歲以下選民有40%說自己的財務狀況「落於人後」。

文／Lisa Lerer, Ruth Igielnik and Camille Baker，譯／羅方妤

說文解字看新聞

【張佑生】

川普1年多前宣誓就職時就有預言指出，決定他期中考(2026期中選舉)成績的將是affordability這個字，買不買得起？unaffordable是負擔不起。前任拜登雖然降低失業率有成，但始終壓不下物價，被認為是2024民主黨江山易手的主因之一。Middle-class lifestyle是中產階級的生活方式，這不是單指收入，而是一整套社會預期：住房、教育、醫療、退休、安全感，在選舉論述中，是高度情緒化且具動員力的概念，「中產焦慮」常成為政治敘事核心。

Affordability是「現在能付得起」，anxiety是「未來可能付不起」。Affordability是客觀經濟能力；anxiety是主觀心理感受。Middle class是一個社會學概念，帶有文化與生活方式的意涵，沒有統一標準，不同國家、不同研究機構會用不同的收入區間或生活指標來界定。Median income是一個統計數字，用來描述收入分布的中間點，不涉及生活方式或階層。

另外容易混淆的是lifestyle跟standard of living。前者是怎麼過日子，偏向行為與文化；後者是「能過什麼樣的日子」，偏向經濟與物質條件。生活方式是選擇，生活水準是能力。