10月12日公布的一项调查显示，新冠疫情期间，近1/5的美国家庭花光了全部积蓄。这项调查由美国国家公共广播电台、罗伯特·伍德·约翰逊基金会和哈佛大学陈曾熙公共卫生学院联合开展，调查对象为3616名成年人。
在年收入低于5万美元的美国家庭中，有30%在新冠疫情期间花完了储蓄，有三分之二表示他们难以支付房租、看病和食物的开销，其中非洲裔和拉美裔家庭财务受疫情影响最大。约三分之二的受访者表示，他们在过去几个月接受过政府的经济援助，但44%的人认为，这些救助项目“帮助不大”。
Nineteen percent of US households report losing all of their savings during the COVID-19 outbreak and not currently having any savings to fall back on, according to a survey released on Oct 12.The survey by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health also showed that in those last few months, as the US struggled to contain the infectious Delta coronavirus variant, the percentage of households reporting serious financial problems rose to 59% when they had an income under $50,000 a year.
▲ Screenshot of the reportReports of serious financial problems were not equal across racial and ethnic groups: 57% of Latinos, 56% of Black people and 50% of Native Americans said they had experienced serious financial problems in the past few months, compared with 29% of white people.
▲ Screenshot of the reportThe survey of 3,616 US adults was conducted between Aug 2 and Sep 7. It also found that among households with children in kindergarten through high school, 69% said their children had fallen behind because of the pandemic.In the past few months, 17% of households reported serious problems affording medical care, including 28% of households with annual incomes below $50,000.The problems were reported despite government assistance meant to lessen the financial burden of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of households surveyed, 67% said they had received financial assistance from the government in the past few months.▲ Volunteers prepare food items that will be donated to those in need at Capital Area Food Bank in Washington DC earlier this year. Photo/ The Guardian.Despite billions of dollars in aid money from the federal and state governments, “what we have here is a bunch of people who are still one step away from financially drowning,” Robert Blendon, Emeritus Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at Harvard Chan School, says.
编辑：陈月华
实习生：张媛
来源：The Guardian, China Daily, News Express 24
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