在经济压力和照顾孩子的双重压力下，父母在流行病中“很不好”

在经济压力和照顾孩子的双重压力下，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.

早在初春的时候，克里斯坦·耶茨在一家营销公司担任质量保证分析师，她热爱自己的工作。“这是我职业生涯中最好的一份工作，”31岁的耶茨回忆说，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."

耶茨是两个孩子的母亲，她在流行病爆发前搬进了一套更大的公寓，因为她想给她的孩子更多的空间。当时，她感觉自己“站在自己世界的顶端”。

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

但随着流行病对市场营销业和其他行业的经济影响，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.

美国国家公共电台(NPR)、罗伯特·伍德·约翰逊基金会和哈佛大学T.H. Chan公共卫生学院周三公布的一项调查显示，全美有60%的有子女家庭在疫情期间失业或工资下降，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.

调查还发现，74%的有孩子的家庭收入低于10万美元，他们面临严重的财务问题。

"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."

乔治敦大学的发展心理学家安娜·约翰逊说:“我们看到失业、食品不安全和压力的比率直线上升。”他说:“我认为，这些失去收入和工作的家庭将很难回到原来的状态。我认为在可预见的将来，家里会有很多压力和混乱。这是有代价的。”

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.

约翰逊说，这种代价不仅落在了入不敷出的父母身上，也落在了他们的孩子身上。哈佛大学T.H. Chan公共卫生学院的心理学家阿卡纳·巴苏说，由于父母在家里压力很大，没有学校来逃避(家庭压力)，也缺乏与朋友的面对面交流，孩子们很少有办法应对自己的环境。

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

巴苏和约翰逊担心，这可能会对孩子的心理健康和教育产生持久的影响。

Financial strain and mounting stress

财政紧张和不断增加的压力

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."

她失业后不久就意识到自己几乎没有钱买食物了。“就在那一刻，我看着我的橱柜说，‘哦哦!“…有几罐花生酱和一些没有酱汁的意大利面。”

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

就在那时，她报名参加了快餐福利。

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.

她现在每月的失业收入约为2000美元，其中1300美元用于房租。还有水电费，孩子们的学习用品，网络服务让她的孩子们继续参加线上学习，让她继续寻找新的工作。

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.

她说，她的焦虑已经达到了顶点。她挣扎着从床上爬起来，有好几天她忘了吃饭。