 在西方的传统观念中，成年即意味着要离开父母，独立生活。然而现在，越来越多的西方年轻人更倾向于与父母同住…… Easier to be kids forever 来自21世纪英文报 00:00 03:38 ↑↑点击播放音频↑↑ The last thing Caitlin Hipp would have expected as she prepared to turn 28 years old was to be living at home with her parents. 凯特琳·希普最不愿意看到的事，就是自己快28岁了还和父母住在一起。 All she’s ever wanted to do is to become an elementary school teacher. And in the meantime, she’s been working through her teaching certifications for four years after obtaining an education degree from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, US. 她想成为一名小学老师。在美国俄亥俄州博林格林州立大学获得教育学位后，这四年来她一直都在考教师资格证。 Hipp has racked up $100,000 (about 0.67 million yuan) in student loan debt and isn’t able to earn enough through working as a part-time skating instructor and restaurant server to live anywhere other than home. 希普身负10万美元（约67万人民币）的学生贷款债务。她目前的工作是兼职滑冰教练和餐厅服务员，挣的工资根本无法让她离家独立生活。 To some degree, multigenerational households have always been a part of American life. However, the number of adults who have been moving back in with their parents – or never leaving home in the first place – has been growing steadily. 在某种程度上，几代同堂一直都是美国人生活的一部分。然而，搬回来和父母同住、或从一开始就没离开过家的成年人数量正稳步上升。 The Pew Research Center recently reported that 2014 was a milestone in the evolving living arrangements of young adults in the US. For the first time since 1880, adults aged 18 to 34 became more likely to be living with a parent than to be living on their own. 皮尤研究中心近期发布的一项报告称，2014年是美国年轻人居住方式演变的里程碑。自1880年以来，18-34岁的成年人首次更倾向于和父母同住，而不是自己独立生活。 In 2014, about 32.1 percent of 18-to-34-year-olds lived in their parents’ home, with 31.6 percent married or cohabiting and living in their own separate dwelling. Prior to 2014, the most common living arrangement for young adults was to be living in their own property as part of a couple. 在18-34岁的年轻人中，2014年大约有32.1%的人住在父母家中，只有31.6%的已婚或同居人士住在自己的独立寓所中。而在2014年之前，年轻人们最常见的居住方式是夫妻俩住在自己的房子里。 UBS Financial Services, a Swiss global financial services company, released a report that even suggests one reason for the growing number of young adults still living at home could be that their family doesn’t want them to leave. 瑞士全球金融服务公司瑞银金融服务公司发布的一份报告甚至显示，越来越多的年轻人依然住在家里的一大原因是他们的家人不愿让他们离开。 The report shows that 74 percent of millennials get some kind of financial support from their parents after college. It finds that boomers and millennials have redefined the ties that bind parents and children. “Millennials see their parents as peers, friends and mentors. Nearly three quarters talked with their parents more than once a week during college. In return, their parents happily provide financial support well into adulthood, helping fund everything for them.” 该报告显示，74%的千禧一代在大学毕业后仍会从父母那里获得些许财务支持。报告发现，婴儿潮一代和千禧一代重新定义了亲子之间的纽带。“千禧一代将自己的父母视作同龄人、朋友以及导师。约四分之三的人在大学里每周不止一次地谈起自己的父母。而他们的父母也很乐于提供财务支持直至他们成年，为他们的一切出资。” Stuart Hoffman, chief economist for the PNC Financial Group in the US, said the number of young adults striking out on their own fell during the Great Recession. Although job growth for millennials since 2014 has improved, that doesn’t necessarily mean that millennials are starting to fly the nest, he said. “They may like living at home and being able to save money. 美国PNC金融服务集团的首席经济学家斯图尔特·霍夫曼表示，在经济大衰退期间，独立自主的年轻人数量有所下降。尽管自2014年开始，千禧一代的就业增长已经有所改善，但这并不意味着他们将要离巢独立生活，他说道。“他们或许喜欢住在家里，这样能够省钱。” “There’s no doubt it has held back household formation and purchases on things people spend money on related to household formation and perhaps related to child-rearing,” Hoffman explained. “But they are probably traveling more and eating out more if they don’t have a house expense or marriage. I don’t know if it represents a change in moral values. But it’s much more common for adult children to live in their parent’s homes because it’s becoming part of the culture.” “毫无疑问，这种现象限制了家庭的组建以及与组建家庭所需的消费，或许还有养育孩子相关的花销，”霍夫曼解释道。“但如果年轻人没有住房花销，也没有结婚，他们很有可能更经常地出游、下馆子。我不知道这是否代表了一种道德价值的转变。但成年人住在父母家里更常见了，因为这正在成为文化的一部分。” 本文选自《二十一世纪英文报》1172期 本文音频由我报外籍专家Dale Fox朗读 |
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