The Middle Class in the USA 美国中产阶级.pptVIP

美国国会大厦 美国中产阶级住房 * The Middle Class in the USA Definition: Despite the so-called recovery, many families continue to struggle, with income and other living standards slipping below thresholds that typically represent middle-class quality of life. Weve assembled a variety of metrics to help determine whether youre getting ahead, holding steady, or slipping further than most. 字典里的定义 《美国传统词典》（The American Heritage Dictionary）是这样定义中产阶级的：“介于工人阶级和上层阶级之间的社会经济阶级，通常包括专业人士、高技能工人和中底层管理者。” 然而，大多数美国人却把美国看成一个没有阶级的社会，通常把这一阶层同收入、职业、兴趣爱好乃至生活方式联系起来。医生、教师、律师和水管工都可能是中产阶级。 界定中产阶级两大因素：收入（income） 教育（education） Income : For the 50 percent of families in the middle of the scale, household income ranges from $51,000 to $123,000 for a typical four-person, two-parent family. The median is about $81,000. Those numbers are from 2008, and have probably fallen 5 to 7 percent since then, on account of the recession. Median income for a single-parent, two-child family is about $25,000. 收入 2008年数字，中间水平的50%的四口之家年收入在?5万1千美元～12万3千美元间，中数是8万1千美元。估计现在这个数字下降了5%～7%。有两个孩子的单亲家庭的中位数收入约为两万5千美元。? Housing Costs :For two-parent families, the typical home is worth about $231,000, accounting for $17,600 in mortgage payments and other costs per year. Housing costs have risen by more than twice as much as income since 1990, a trend that may finally be reversing thanks to the housing bust. 一个典型双亲家庭的房屋约值23万1千美元，年按揭和其他开支约为1万7千6百美元。? Home Size : The housing bubble was one factor that boosted housing costs, but the typical family also lives in a much bigger home. The median size of a new, single-family home jumped by 40 percent between 1979 and 2007, to about 2,300 square feet. That may now be declining, as families downsize and some get booted from homes they cant afford. 家庭规模 家庭规模是增加家庭开支的一大因素，但是典型的中产阶级家庭的规模都比较大。 Cars The typical family spends about $12,400 per year on two medium-sized sedans or the equivalent, with a new-car value of $45,000. The recession may have dampened our love of the road, however: Americans ar