Unequal protection

不平等的保護(hù)

American inequality meets covid-19

當(dāng)美國(guó)的（社會(huì)）不平等碰上covid-19

Some already yawning gaps are being pushed farther apart by the virus

一些本已巨大的差距正被病毒進(jìn)一步拉開

Apr 18th 2020 | WASHINGTON, DC

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THE COVID-19 epidemic in America is two-pronged—a contagious sickness first, followed by an economic malaise. Despite a big stimulus programme from Congress, including the temporary introduction of something like a universal basic income that ought to benefit the poorest disproportionately, it is the least advantaged who are suffering most.

COVID-19在美國(guó)的傳染分為兩種，一種是傳染性疾病，另一種是經(jīng)濟(jì)問(wèn)題。盡管國(guó)會(huì)出臺(tái)了一項(xiàng)龐大的刺激計(jì)劃，包括臨時(shí)引入一種像全民基本收入這樣的東西，它本應(yīng)不成比例地惠及最貧困的人群，但最弱勢(shì)的人群卻承受了最大的痛苦。

詞匯

two-pronged/雙管齊下的

contagious/感染性的；會(huì)蔓延的

disproportionately/不成比例地

The country is now in the unenviable position of having more covid-19 cases—638,000 confirmed—and deaths (31,000) than any other in the world. At least 17m people, or more than one-tenth of the civilian workforce, have filed for unemployment benefits in the past three weeks. The official tabulations on what is happening will arrive weeks and months from now. But the best available evidence shows that the already yawning divides in American society are widening.

這個(gè)國(guó)家現(xiàn)在正處因?yàn)橛写罅康腸ovid-19患者而處在一個(gè)不值得羨慕的位置上，已有63.8萬(wàn)確證病例——死亡人數(shù)(3.1萬(wàn))比世界上任何一個(gè)國(guó)家都要多。過(guò)去三周，至少有1700萬(wàn)人，即逾十分之一的普通民工，申請(qǐng)了失業(yè)救濟(jì)金。從現(xiàn)在起的幾周或幾個(gè)月后，官方將會(huì)公布具體情況。但現(xiàn)有的最靠譜證據(jù)表明，美國(guó)社會(huì)已經(jīng)存在的巨大鴻溝正在擴(kuò)大。

詞匯

Tabulation/表格；作表

?

Roughly one in three deaths in America thus far has been in New York City. The brunt of the disease has not fallen evenly there. Data released by the city’s health department on April 6th show that black and Hispanic residents are twice as likely to die of the disease as white city dwellers. That trend has not been confined to America’s largest city. In the few states and cities that have released similar breakdowns of fatalities, an uncomfortable pattern emerges from Milwaukee to New Orleans. Black Chicagoans are five times as likely to die of covid-19 than white ones.

到目前為止，大約三分之一的美國(guó)人死于紐約市。在那里，疾病帶來(lái)的沖擊并不均衡。紐約市衛(wèi)生局4月6日公布的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，黑人和西班牙裔居民死于該病的可能性是白人居民的兩倍。這種趨勢(shì)并不局限于美國(guó)最大的城市。從密爾沃基到新奧爾良，在少數(shù)幾個(gè)公布了類似狀況死亡人數(shù)的州和城市，出現(xiàn)了一種令人不安的模式。芝加哥黑人死于covid-19的可能性是白人的5倍

詞匯

Brunt/沖擊；主要沖力

Dweller/居民

Fatality/死亡，宿命

Exactly why this is happening is still an open question. There are elevated rates among African-Americans of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, which are thought to increase the chance of death. Poverty, and its attendant consequences, may also be at play: blacks (and especially Hispanics) are less likely to have health insurance, and may thus avoid seeking testing and treatment. Despite the large differences in mortality, The Economist’s analysis of zip-code level data in New York City shows that neighbourhoods with large black and Hispanic populations only have marginally more testing. Without space to self-isolate, a private car and a job that can be performed remotely, the chances of infection necessarily increase.

究竟為什么會(huì)發(fā)生這種情況仍是一個(gè)懸而未決的問(wèn)題。非裔美國(guó)人患高血壓和糖尿病等慢性疾病的比例較高，這些疾病被認(rèn)為會(huì)增加死亡的幾率。貧困及其隨之而來(lái)的后果可能也在起作用:黑人(尤其是西班牙裔)不太可能有醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)，因此可能會(huì)避免尋求檢測(cè)和治療。盡管死亡率存在巨大差異，《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》對(duì)紐約市郵編數(shù)據(jù)的分析顯示，擁有大量黑人和西班牙裔人口的社區(qū)只比其他社區(qū)接受了略微多一點(diǎn)的測(cè)試（這里應(yīng)該指相對(duì)普通白人社區(qū)，黑人社區(qū)人口更為密集）。如果沒(méi)有可以自我隔離的空間、一輛私家車和一份可以遠(yuǎn)程執(zhí)行的工作，感染的機(jī)會(huì)必然會(huì)增加。

詞匯

zip-code/郵政編碼

A team of biostatistics researchers at Harvard have pointed out that there is an alarming correlation between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter—which damages lungs—and county-level death rates from covid-19, a respiratory illness. An increase of merely one microgram per cubic metre is associated with a 15% increase in covid-19 fatalities. In America, black residents are disproportionately exposed to fine particulate matter. Even after accounting for population density, air pollution and pre-existing health factors like smoking rates and obesity levels, the same analysis shows that race is tied to covid-19 deaths nationwide. For every one standard-deviation increase in the share of Hispanic and black residents, county death rates increase by 16% and 52%, respectively.

哈佛大學(xué)的一組生物統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)研究人員指出，長(zhǎng)期暴露在可損害肺部的細(xì)顆粒物中，與呼吸道疾病covid-19的縣級(jí)的死亡率之間存在驚人的相關(guān)性。每立方米增加1微克就會(huì)增加15%的致命致死率。在美國(guó)，黑人居民不成比例地暴露在細(xì)顆粒物中。即使在考慮了人口密度、空氣污染和已有的健康因素(如吸煙率和肥胖水平)之后，同樣的分析也顯示，種族與全國(guó)范圍內(nèi)的covid-19 致死事件有關(guān)。西班牙裔和黑人居民的比例每增加一個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)偏差，該縣的死亡率就分別增加16%和52%。

詞匯

fine particulate matter/細(xì)顆粒物

respiratory illness/呼吸系統(tǒng)疾病

It is also uncertain whether this racial disparity would dissipate if the virus spread beyond big cities and into rural parts of the country. If poverty, pollution, pre-existing conditions, and patchy health and social safety nets are leading to excess deaths among minority residents in American cities, then they will apply with no less force to poor whites outside them.

同樣不確定的是，如果病毒從大城市擴(kuò)散到農(nóng)村地區(qū)，這種種族差異是否會(huì)消失。如果貧困、污染、既存狀況、不完善的健康和社會(huì)保障體系導(dǎo)致美國(guó)城市少數(shù)族裔居民的過(guò)度死亡，那么這些因素將毫不減弱地適用于他們之外的貧困白人。

?

Adherence to social-distancing guidance also seems to differ by income and party affiliation. A recent study by a team of researchers armed with cell-phone-location data found that compliance with the new behavioural guidelines was substantially lower in counties with lower incomes, greater exposure to recent trade wars and higher rates of support for Mr Trump. The few governors who have not recommended shelter-in-place orders as of April 14th are of all Republican-led, largely rural states like Arkansas and South Dakota (where over 500 workers in a pork processing plant recently tested positive for the virus).

堅(jiān)持社會(huì)距離指導(dǎo)（政策）似乎也因收入和黨派關(guān)系而有所不同。一組研究人員最近利用手機(jī)定位數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在收入較低、更容易受到最近MYZ影響、TLP支持率較高的國(guó)家，遵守新行為準(zhǔn)則的情況要低得多。截止到4月14日，少數(shù)幾個(gè)州的州長(zhǎng)還沒(méi)有建議實(shí)施避難命令，這些州都是由共和黨人領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的，大部分是農(nóng)村地區(qū)，比如阿肯色州和南達(dá)科他州(那里一家豬肉加工廠的500多名工人最近被檢測(cè)出病毒陽(yáng)性)。

詞匯

Adherence/堅(jiān)持；依附；忠誠(chéng)

Affiliation/ ?友好關(guān)系；聯(lián)盟

Although the uneven health effects of the pandemic are still being worked out, there is little doubt already about where the economic effects have been most severe. Official unemployment numbers are tabulated every month and have not yet incorporated the worst weeks of the economic downturn. When they catch up, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think-tank, reckons that they will show an unemployment rate of 20% by early summer—a number not seen since the Great Depression. A survey of 4,000 American workers conducted by a team of European economists found that 16.4% had already lost their job because of the viral shock. For the 20% of American workers least able to work from home, nearly 40% have lost their jobs, according to the survey results. Workers who are younger, poorer or lack a university education have disproportionately lost their source of income (see chart). For some, that has also meant losing their employer-sponsored health insurance in the middle of an epidemic.

盡管這場(chǎng)傳染病對(duì)健康造成的不均衡影響仍在研究中，但幾乎可以肯定的是，哪些地方的經(jīng)濟(jì)影響最為嚴(yán)重。官方的失業(yè)數(shù)據(jù)每個(gè)月都有統(tǒng)計(jì)，但還沒(méi)有包括經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退最嚴(yán)重的幾周。智庫(kù)彼得森國(guó)際經(jīng)濟(jì)研究所(Peterson Institute for International Economics)估計(jì)，當(dāng)他們趕上（數(shù)據(jù)統(tǒng)計(jì)進(jìn)度）時(shí)，到初夏，失業(yè)率將達(dá)到20%——這是大蕭條以來(lái)未見過(guò)的數(shù)字。一組歐洲經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家對(duì)4000名美國(guó)工人進(jìn)行的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，16.4%的美國(guó)人已經(jīng)因?yàn)椴《臼降臎_擊而失去了工作。調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，美國(guó)有20%的勞動(dòng)者最不能在家工作，其中近40%的人已經(jīng)失去了工作。較年輕、較貧窮或缺乏大學(xué)教育的工人失去了不成比例的收入來(lái)源(見圖表)。對(duì)一些人來(lái)說(shuō)，這也意味著在傳染病肆虐期間失去雇主資助的醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)。

?

The negative effect of these job losses on low-income and precariously employed Americans ripples through their families. Elizabeth Ananat, an economist at Barnard College, and Anna Gassman-Pines, a professor of public policy at Duke University, spent months recruiting hourly service-sector workers with young children in a big American city to study the effect of a new law limiting short-notice schedule changes. In the middle of their survey, the coronavirus hit—ruining their intended study, but providing valuable detailed information about how relatively low-paid workers in hotels and restaurants are dealing with the crisis. Of their sample, 43% had lost their jobs (half of them permanently). Of those, 23% also lost their health insurance. Measures of parental and child mental distress also shot up.

失業(yè)對(duì)低收入和不穩(wěn)定就業(yè)的美國(guó)人的負(fù)面影響波及他們的家庭。巴納德學(xué)院(Barnard College)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家Elizabeth Ananat和杜克大學(xué)(Duke University)公共政策教授Anna Gassman-Pines花了數(shù)月時(shí)間，在美國(guó)一個(gè)大城市招募面向要撫養(yǎng)年幼子女人群的服務(wù)行業(yè)小工，研究一項(xiàng)限制臨時(shí)通知日程變動(dòng)的新法律的效果。在調(diào)查進(jìn)行到一半時(shí)，冠狀病毒破壞了他們?cè)敬蛩氵M(jìn)行的研究，但提供了有價(jià)值的詳細(xì)信息，讓我們了解到酒店和餐館里相對(duì)低收入的員工是如何應(yīng)對(duì)危機(jī)的。在他們的樣本中，43%的人失去了工作(其中一半是永久性的)。其中，23%的人失去了醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)。父母和孩子的精神痛苦程度也急劇上升。

詞匯

Precariously/不安全地；不牢靠地

In theory, the safety net should cushion these effects. Compared with those of other rich countries, America’s is less generous, for fear of discouraging work. But now that swathes of the economy are closed off for the good of public health, these worries look less important. In its recent $2.2trn spending bill, Congress temporarily reinforced the safety net—including a $600 weekly top-up on unemployment benefits, a $1,200 cheque for most American adults and a $350bn bail-out fund for small businesses on the brink of closing.

從理論上講，社會(huì)保障體系應(yīng)該能夠緩沖這些影響。與其他富裕國(guó)家相比，美國(guó)人因?yàn)閾?dān)心打擊工作積極性而不那么慷慨（指相對(duì)于歐洲某些國(guó)家的福利體系）。但現(xiàn)在，由于經(jīng)濟(jì)領(lǐng)域?yàn)榱斯娊】刀环怄i，這些擔(dān)憂似乎不那么重要了。在最近的2.2萬(wàn)億美元支出法案中，國(guó)會(huì)暫時(shí)加強(qiáng)了安全網(wǎng)——包括每周600美元的失業(yè)補(bǔ)貼、1200美元的大部分美國(guó)成年人支票，以及3500億美元的瀕臨倒閉小企業(yè)紓困基金。

詞匯

Cushion/墊子；起緩解作用之物

swathes of /大塊的；大片的

?

Two nations

（兩類人群【黑白，高低學(xué)歷】），兩種國(guó)度

Sensible as this seems, the time before firms and families actually benefit may be quite long. State unemployment offices are contending with extreme levels of claims and antiquated technology. The governor of New Jersey put out a call to programmers fluent in COBOL, a programming language created in 1959, to help fix its office’s back-end software. Of the unemployed service workers in Ms Ananat’s and Ms Gassman-Pines’s sample, only 46% had successfully applied for benefits. Only 4% have actually received them. And while the IRS is expected to start depositing cheques soon, those without a previous tax filing or a bank account (who presumably need the cash most) will have to wait longer.

盡管這似乎是明智的，但企業(yè)和家庭真正受益可能需要相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間。州失業(yè)辦公室正與極端水平的索賠和過(guò)時(shí)的技術(shù)作斗爭(zhēng)。新澤西州州長(zhǎng)向熟練使用COBOL(一種創(chuàng)建于1959年的編程語(yǔ)言)的程序員發(fā)出了一個(gè)電話，請(qǐng)他們幫忙修復(fù)其辦公室的后端軟件。在Ananat女士和gassman - pine女士的樣本中，只有46%的失業(yè)服務(wù)人員成功申請(qǐng)了福利。而這其中，只有4%的人真正收到了。雖然預(yù)計(jì)美國(guó)國(guó)稅局將很快開始存入支票，但那些沒(méi)有以前的稅務(wù)申報(bào)或銀行賬戶的人(可能是最需要現(xiàn)金的人)將不得不等待更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間。

?

The roll-out of the small-business bail-out scheme has been bumpy, too, with owners reporting unclear guidance and considerable paperwork. A nationwide survey of small businesses, conducted by a team of economists, found that 43% of companies had closed temporarily, shedding 40% of their employees.

小企業(yè)救助計(jì)劃的推出也是磕磕絆絆，企業(yè)主報(bào)告說(shuō)指導(dǎo)不明確，文書工作繁重。一組經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家對(duì)全美小企業(yè)進(jìn)行的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，43%的企業(yè)已經(jīng)暫時(shí)關(guān)閉，裁減了40%的員工。

Assessing the long-run effect of the last economic downturn on children, some of America’s leading scholars on poverty concluded: “The near immunity of college-educated families and the large negative consequences for less-educated families mean that the Great Recession increased the already large divide between families at the top and bottom of the income distribution.” There is little reason to doubt that the same dynamic will reappear this time.

評(píng)估過(guò)去的經(jīng)濟(jì)低迷對(duì)兒童的長(zhǎng)期影響,一些領(lǐng)先的美國(guó)學(xué)者對(duì)貧困總結(jié)說(shuō):“因受益于高等教育而在此次疫情中豁免（可以遠(yuǎn)程辦公而沒(méi)有丟工作）的家庭和吃了沒(méi)文化的虧而受到重大負(fù)面影響家庭的對(duì)比意味著經(jīng)濟(jì)大衰退已經(jīng)增加了高收入和低收入家庭之間的收入差距。幾乎沒(méi)有理由懷疑，同樣的情況將再次出現(xiàn)在這一次。

詞匯

Immunity/豁免權(quán)

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