在經(jīng)濟壓力和照顧孩子的雙重壓力下，父母在流行病中“很不好”

在經(jīng)濟壓力和照顧孩子的雙重壓力下，父母在流行病中“很不好”

Back in early spring, Khristan Yates worked as a quality assurance analyst at a marketing company and loved her job. "I had one of the best jobs of my career," recalls Yates, 31, a resident of Chicago.

早在初春的時候，克里斯坦·耶茨在一家營銷公司擔任質(zhì)量保證分析師，她熱愛自己的工作。“這是我職業(yè)生涯中最好的一份工作，”31歲的耶茨回憶說，她住在芝加哥。

Yates, who's a mother of two children, had moved into a bigger apartment just before the pandemic hit because she wanted to give her kids more space. At the time, she felt like she was "at the top of her world."

耶茨是兩個孩子的母親，她在流行病爆發(fā)前搬進了一套更大的公寓，因為她想給她的孩子更多的空間。當時，她感覺自己“站在自己世界的頂端”。

But as the economic effects of the pandemic hit the marketing industry among others, she lost her job in May.

但隨著流行病對市場營銷業(yè)和其他行業(yè)的經(jīng)濟影響，她在5月份失去了工作。

Yates is among the 60% of households with children across the country that have lost jobs or have had wages reduced during the pandemic, according to a poll released Wednesday by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

美國國家公共電臺(NPR)、羅伯特·伍德·約翰遜基金會和哈佛大學T.H. Chan公共衛(wèi)生學院周三公布的一項調(diào)查顯示，全美有60%的有子女家庭在疫情期間失業(yè)或工資下降，耶茨就是其中之一。

The poll also found 74% of households with children that made less than $100,000 report facing serious financial problems.

調(diào)查還發(fā)現(xiàn)，74%的有孩子的家庭收入低于10萬美元，他們面臨嚴重的財務問題。

"We're seeing skyrocketing rates of job losses and food insecurity and stress," says Anna Johnson, a developmental psychologist at Georgetown University. "I think it will be very hard for these families who've lost income and jobs to get back to where they were. I think there will just be a lot of stress and turmoil in the household for the foreseeable future ... that takes a toll."

喬治敦大學的發(fā)展心理學家安娜·約翰遜說:“我們看到失業(yè)、食品不安全和壓力的比率直線上升。”他說:“我認為，這些失去收入和工作的家庭將很難回到原來的狀態(tài)。我認為在可預見的將來，家里會有很多壓力和混亂。這是有代價的。”

That toll isn't just on the parents, who're struggling to make ends meet, but also on their children, says Johnson. With stressed-out parents at home, no school to escape to and a lack of in-person interaction with friends, children have fewer ways to cope with their circumstances, says psychologist Archana Basu of the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health.

約翰遜說，這種代價不僅落在了入不敷出的父母身上，也落在了他們的孩子身上。哈佛大學T.H. Chan公共衛(wèi)生學院的心理學家阿卡納·巴蘇說，由于父母在家里壓力很大，沒有學校來逃避(家庭壓力)，也缺乏與朋友的面對面交流，孩子們很少有辦法應對自己的環(huán)境。

Basu and Johnson worry that this may leave a lasting impact on kids' mental health and education.

巴蘇和約翰遜擔心，這可能會對孩子的心理健康和教育產(chǎn)生持久的影響。

Financial strain and mounting stress

財政緊張和不斷增加的壓力

It wasn't long after she lost her job that she realized she had hardly any money for food. "There was this moment I looked at my cabinet and said, 'Uh oh!' ... There was a couple of jars [of] peanut butter and some pasta with no sauce."

她失業(yè)后不久就意識到自己幾乎沒有錢買食物了。“就在那一刻，我看著我的櫥柜說，‘哦哦!“…有幾罐花生醬和一些沒有醬汁的意大利面。”

That's when she signed up for SNAP food benefits.

就在那時，她報名參加了快餐福利。

She now makes about $2,000 a month in unemployment, $1,300 of which goes to rent. Then there are utility bills, school supplies for her kids, Internet service to allow her children to attend school virtually and for her to keep searching for a new job.

她現(xiàn)在每月的失業(yè)收入約為2000美元，其中1300美元用于房租。還有水電費，孩子們的學習用品，網(wǎng)絡服務讓她的孩子們繼續(xù)參加線上學習，讓她繼續(xù)尋找新的工作。

Her anxiety has gone through the roof, she says. She struggles to get out of bed and there have been days when she forgot to eat.

她說，她的焦慮已經(jīng)達到了頂點。她掙扎著從床上爬起來，有好幾天她忘了吃飯。