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Low Wages Are Poverty Wages
低收入就是穷人的工资水平
How would you like to put in full-time hours at your job, work hard to perform your job well, manage your household, and yet still spend time waiting in lines for general assistance and charity to pay for your basic expenses, including food and heat? If you are a member of the growing population of minimum- and low-wage workers, this could be you. And the problem affects all of us.
你喜欢全职工作吗，喜欢努力做好自己的工作吗，喜欢处理家务吗，还是喜欢排队等待一般救助和等待慈善机构来为你支付诸如食物和取暖之类的基本费用吗？如果你是人数不断增加的最低收入群体中的一员，那么这可能就是你的境况了。而且这一问题影响着所有人。
Low wages are not just for kids and teens anymore. They are for everybody. Steven Greenhouse wrote a piece for the Economy section of The New York Timesthat compared the demographics of low-wage workers in 1979 and 2013. The changes are shocking. The stereotype that low-wage workers are young, and are either just starting out or saving money for school is out of date and incorrect. In 2013, 20 percent of workers aged 25 to 34 earned low wages, up from 15 percent in 1979. In 2013, over 30 percent of workers ages 35 to 64 were making low wages.
低收入已经不再仅仅适用于儿童和青少年了。低收入是对每个人而言的。Steven Greenhouse 在纽约时报的经济专栏中发表了一篇文章，文章对比了1979年和2013年低收入工作者的人口统计资料。变化惊人。认为工作者收入低是因为年轻、刚刚开始工作或者勤工俭学的传统思想已经过时、不合实际了。2013年，年龄在25岁到34岁之间的低收入工作者比例高达20%，自从1979年增加了15个百分点。2013年，年龄在35至64岁之间的工作者，30%以上都处于低收入水平。
Education of the Low-Wage Worker
低收入工作者的受教育情况
Education has long been considered the doorway out of poverty. Get a good education, and more opportunities will be available to you, as will more money. Therefore, it may come as a surprise that, according to Greenhouse's article, about 41 percent of low-wage workers today have some college education. Many factors contribute to this state of affairs, not the least of which is the recent recession.
教育往往被看作是脱贫的出路。人们一般认为只要受到良好的教育，就能得到更多的就业机会、更高的收入。根据Greenhouse的文章，当今41%左右的低收入工作者基本都受过大学教育，因此很是令人吃惊。导致这种情况的因素有很多，不仅仅是由于最近经济不景气这一个因素。
The point is that it is getting more and more difficult to stay above the poverty line. Available jobs offer low wages, people put off finishing their educations because they cannot afford it, and health crises take any savings the family was able to stash away. People are asking for assistance with basics such as feeding their children, paying rent, keeping warm through an incredibly cold winter, and transporting themselves to work. The low wages available today do not support the cost of basic living.
问题在于保持在贫困线以上的困难度越来越大。可获得的工作岗位，工资很低，因此人们放弃完成学业，因为他们没钱支付学业需费用，健康危机耗尽了家庭的所有积蓄。人们现在需要基本的救助，比如供养儿童、交房租、寒冬取暖以及工作交通费等。现在获得的低收入根本不能满足基本生活消费需求。
Tell Us What You Think
告诉我们你的看法
Have you ever needed assistance in addition to your wages?
你是否曾需要工资以外的其他帮助呢？
