VOA慢速英语--新冠病毒危机显示美国和欧洲安全网之间的不平衡

The spread of the new coronavirus has brought attention to the sharp differences in how wealthy countries -- such as the United States and those in Europe -- take care of their citizens in hard times.

In Europe, the collapse¹ of the economy has activated² wage support programs that are keeping millions paid, for now. In the United States, more than 38 million people have sought unemployment financial assistance.

U.S. lawmakers have passed $2 trillion in emergency support, increasing assistance for the jobless and providing up to $1,200 for most taxpayers³. Such steps happened in earlier economic crises, as well, especially the worldwide financial crisis and the Great Recession.

While European nations depend on existing programs to provide support, the U.S. depends on Congress to take action and pass emergency financial programs.

"In the U.S. you need to keep pumping money into the economy so that people continue to be employed, because it is through being employed that they are protected," said Andre Sapir, an economist⁴ with the Bruegel research institute in Brussels, Belgium. "Which is the better system? I'm not going into that discussion because that is really a huge issue," he added.

The United States usually is below average on measures of social support among the 37 countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The group's members are mostly developed democracies.

The OECD reported last year that among its members the U.S. had the largest amount of people living in relative poverty, that means people living on half the average earnings⁵. living on half the average earnings. In the United States about with 17.8 percent of people live in relative poverty. In countries like Iceland, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Finland, fewer than 6 percent of people live on such earnings.

Here is a look at how the social safety nets of the U.S. and Europe compare:

Unemployment benefits

Americans on unemployment were collecting an average of about $372 weekly before the coronavirus appeared. The rescue plan gave jobless workers an additional $600 a week through July. It also extended support to those who lost work as a result of the coronavirus. Most states offer six months of unemployment, but the emergency legislation added 13 weeks.

Germany's jobless benefit pays 60 percent of a worker's past salary for one year. France provides up to 75 percent of the previous average daily wage for up to two years.

Europe also has short-hours programs, which pay most of a worker's salary if companies put them on shorter hours. More than 10 million workers are being paid that way in Germany, and about 12 million in France.

Health insurance

Almost half of Americans receive health insurance through their employers. Another 34 percent get benefits through the government programs Medicare and Medicaid. Six percent are insured individually. Based on 2018 numbers, 9 percent had no insurance at all.

In Europe, nations mostly have universal health care. The systems are generally funded by taxes.

Parental⁶ benefits

The United States is the only country in the OECD to not offer paid leave to new mothers.

Federal law does not require private employers to provide paid family leave. Among private companies, 16 percent of workers were offered paid family leave as of March 2018. Some states offer paid family leave insurance for four to 10 weeks.

In France, mothers are offered at least 16 weeks of leave for their first child and must take at least 8 weeks. Workers get daily maternity⁷ leave earnings of up to 89 euros, or a little under $100. Some professions permit more favorable contracts, up to the full payment of earnings.

And Denmark gives 52 weeks of parental leave after a birth or adoption⁸, to be shared by the parents. How much they earn depends on individual workplace agreements.

Disability benefits

An estimated 8.3 million Americans collect disability benefits earned through Social Security money. The payments average $15,100 a year — just above the poverty level. Requirements are hard to meet and most people seeking disability benefits are denied.

In France, fully⁹ disabled people can receive public health insurance payments of at least 292 euros, or $311, a month. Those who are unable to work and also depend on help for daily tasks may receive monthly payments of $1,500 to $3000.

The costs

Europe's more expansive social safety nets come at a cost, largely paid through taxing workers and employers.

The total value of goods and services provided by a country is called its gross domestic product, or GDP. In the United States, 6 percent of the GDP in 2018 was social security payments, the OECD reports. In France, the amount was 16 percent. And, social security payments accounted for 14 percent of Germany's 2018 GDP.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

institute - n. an organization created for a particular purpose (such as research or education)

society - n. people in general thought of as living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values

safety net -n. something that provides security against misfortune or difficulty

benefit -n. something extra (such as vacation time or health insurance) that is given by an employer to workers in addition to their regular pay

salary -n. an amount of money that an employee is paid each year

previous -adj. immediately before in time or order

insurance -n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen

adoption -n. the act of taking a child of other parents legally as your own child

task -n. a piece of work

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

3 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

7 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

8 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。