[00:00:02]2007黑暗版历年阅读真题解析第三篇
[00:00:06]沪江考研
[00:00:45]by：daisy8475

[00:01.53]During the past generation,
[00:04.20]the American middle-class family that once could count on hard work
[00:08.62]and fair play to keep itself financially secure
[00:11.86]has been transformed by economic risk and new realities.
[00:15.51]Now a pink slip, a bad diagnosis,
[00:18.74]or a disappearing spouse can reduce a family from solidly middle class
[00:23.19]to newly poor in a few months.
[00:25.68]In just one generation, millions of mothers have gone to work,
[00:29.98]transforming basic family economics.
[00:33.25]Scholars, policymakers,
[00:35.24]and critics of all stripes have debated the social implications of these changes,
[00:41.06]but few have looked at the side effect:
[00:44.23]family risk has risen as well.
[00:46.54]Today’s families have budgeted to the limits
[00:49.69]of their new two-paycheck status.
[00:52.28]As a result, they have lost the parachute they once had in times of financial setback—
[00:58.35]a back-up earner (usually Mom) who could go into the workforce if the primary earner
[01:06.26]got laid off on fell sick.
[01:07.25]This “added-worker effect” could support the safety net offered by unemployment insurance
[01:13.88]or disability insurance to help families weather bad times.
[01:18.21]But today, a disruption to family fortunes can no longer be made up
[01:23.15]with extra income from an otherwise-stay-at-home partner.
[01:26.76]During the same period,
[01:28.76]families have been asked to absorb much more risk in their retirement income.
[01:33.95]Steelworkers,
[01:35.28]airline employees,
[01:36.49]and now those it the auto industry are joining millions of families
[01:41.40]who must worry about interest rates,
[01:43.74]stock market fluctuation,
[01:46.21]and the harsh reality that they may outlive their retirement money.
[01:50.97]For much of the past year,
[01:53.19]President Bush campaigned to move Social Security to a savings-account model,
[01:58.53]with retirees trading much or all of their guaranteed payments
[02:03.85]for payments depending on investment returns.
[02:10.02]For younger families,
[02:13.00]the picture is not any better.
[02:15.59]Both the absolute cost of healthcare and share of it borne
[02:21.51]by families have risen—
[02:23.64]and newly fashionable health-savings plans are spreading
[02:27.39]from legislative halls to Wal-Mart workers,
[02:30.55]with much higher deductibles and a large new dose of investment risk
[02:36.54]for families’ future healthcare.
[02:38.55]Even demographics are working against the middle class family,
[02:42.88]as the odds of having a weak elderly parent—
[02:46.27]and all the attendant need for physical and financial assistance—
[02:49.43]have jumped eightfold in just one generation.
[02:53.80]From the middle-class family perspective, much of this,
[02:59.45]understandably, looks far less like an opportunity to exercise more financial responsibility,
[03:04.46]and a good deal more like a frightening acceleration
[03:07.94]of the wholesale shift of financial risk onto their already overburdened shoulders.
[03:13.89]The financial fallout has begun, and the political fallout may not be far behind.