来源：《卫报》
原文刊登日期：2021年3月13日
The US has long prided itself as being an exceptionally fluid society with respect to social class and economic mobility. The American Dream holds that anyone who works hard can achieve economic success – perhaps even rise from rags to riches.
长期以来，美国一直以其在社会阶层和经济流动性方面是一个异常流动的社会而自豪。美国梦认为，任何努力工作的人都可以获得经济上的成功——甚至可能从赤贫变成富翁。
Underlying this belief is the assumption of abundant opportunity and meritocracy. Arriving immigrants often believe they have come to a land of opportunity, with a level playing field allowing for advancement and success. Those who fail to do so tend to blame themselves.
这种信念的基础是大量机会和精英统治的假设。新来的移民通常认为，他们来到了一片充满机遇的土地，有一个允许进步和成功的公平竞争环境。那些没有成功的人往往会责怪自己。
Yet according to recent research, the United States has far less mobility and equality of opportunity today than the European Union or other OECD countries.
然而，根据最近的研究，与欧盟或其他经合组织国家相比，美国的流动性和机会平等程度要低得多。
First, the amount of economic advantage passed down from one generation to the next is much higher in the US. Approximately 50% of a father’s income position is inherited by his son. In contrast, the amount in Norway or Canada is less than 20%.
首先，美国代代相传的经济优势要高得多。父亲收入地位能由儿子继承的比例为50%。相比之下，挪威或加拿大的这一数字不到20%。
What about rising from rags to riches? In the US, 8% of children raised in the bottom 20% of the income distribution are able to climb to the top 20% as adults, while the figure in Denmark is nearly double at 15%.
从穷到富的比例怎样？在美国，在收入分配最低的20%家庭中长大的儿童中，有8%成年后能够爬到收入分配最高的20%，而在丹麦，这一数字几乎翻了一番，达到15%。
Equality of opportunity is also much less viable in the US than in other OECD countries. American life expectancy varies by up to 20 years depending on the zip code of residence. Quality of education also differs widely depending on the wealth of the neighborhood that families reside in. And the chances of being victimized by a crime, exposed to environmental toxins or having unmet healthcare needs is far greater for America’s poor than those impoverished in all other OECD countries.
与经合组织(OECD)其它国家相比，美国实现机会平等的可能性也小得多。美国人的预期寿命因居住地不同而不同，最多相差20岁。教育质量也因家庭所在社区的财富而有很大差异。美国穷人成为犯罪受害者、露于环境毒素或医疗需求得不到满足的几率，远远高于所有其他经合组织国家的穷人。
One of the reasons for lower US mobility is that the ladder of opportunity has become much harder to climb. This is evidenced by the rising levels of income and wealth inequality. Currently, those in the top 20% of the income distribution earn nearly nine times more than those in the bottom 20%. This difference is far greater than in the European Union or the United Kingdom. Wealth inequality is even more skewed. In the United States, the top 5% of the population own three-quarters of the entire financial wealth of the country, while the bottom 60% possess less than 1%.
美国流动性下降的原因之一是，机会的阶梯变得更加难以攀登。收入和财富不平等程度的加剧就是明证。目前，收入分配最顶层20%的人的收入几乎是底层20%人的九倍。这一差异远远大于欧盟或英国。财富不平等甚至更加扭曲。在美国，最富有的5%人口拥有全国四分之三的金融财富，而最贫穷的60%人口拥有的财富不到1%。
We discuss one explanation for these trends in our book, Poorly Understood: What America Gets Wrong about Poverty. The United States has traditionally viewed economic success and failure as the result of individual effort. Rugged individualism and self-reliance have been defining qualities of the American character. On the other hand, our European neighbors are much more likely to attribute poverty to structural factors such as social class or the lack of jobs. As a result, other OECD countries are much more willing to invest in a robust social welfare state designed to help ameliorate some of these structural inequities.
我们在《不甚了解:美国在贫困问题上错在哪里》一书中讨论了对这些趋势的一种解释。美国传统上认为经济的成功和失败是个人努力的结果。强烈的个人主义和自力更生一直是美国人性格的典型特征。另一方面，我们的欧洲邻国更有可能将贫困归因于结构性因素，如社会阶层或缺乏工作机会。因此，其他经合组织国家更愿意投资于一个强大的社会福利国家，以帮助改善其中一些结构性不平等。