三、經(jīng)濟和社會權利難以有效實現(xiàn) | III. Economic and Social Rights under Challenge |
2015年,美國在經(jīng)濟和社會權利保障方面缺乏實質性進步,工人為維護工作權利舉行大規(guī)模罷工,食物無保障者和無家可歸者數(shù)量龐大,公眾健康狀況堪憂。 | In 2015, no substantial progress concerning the economic and social rights of U.S. citizens were made. Workers carried out mass strikes to claim their rights at work. Food-insecure and homeless populations remained huge. Many U.S. people suffered from poor health. |
勞動者的工作權利未能得到有效保障。據(jù)半島電視臺美國頻道網(wǎng)站2015年10月6日報道,美國4400萬受雇于私人部門的勞動者無法享受帶薪病假的權利,占私人部門勞動者總數(shù)的40%。很多行業(yè)出現(xiàn)了大規(guī)模的罷工。2015年2月,加利福尼亞、得克薩斯、肯塔基和華盛頓州9個煉油廠的工人舉行罷工,抗議繁重的加班、不穩(wěn)定的崗位和危險的工作環(huán)境。(注28)2015年4月,230個城市的快餐店職員罷工,以爭取15美元的最低工資;11月,數(shù)百個城市的快餐店職員為此再次罷工并示威游行,全美7個主要機場的2000多名工作人員也進行了罷工以抗議過低的工資水平。(注29) | The rights of laborers at work were not effectively protected. On October 6, 2015, Al Jazeera America reported that about 40 percent of private-sector workers, or 44 million people in America, did not have access to paid sick leave. Large scale strikes in many industries were reported. In February 2015, workers at nine oil refineries in California, Texas, Kentucky and Washington states carried out strikes, protesting onerous overtime, unsafe staffing levels and dangerous conditions (america.aljazeera.com, February 2, October 6, 2015). In April, the same year, fast food workers walked off the job in 230 cities, staging a strike aimed at a minimum wage of 15 U.S. dollars. In November, they walked out in hundreds of cities for the same reason. About 2,000 workers at seven major U.S. airports went on strike in November to protest low wages (thinkprogress.org, April 15, 2015; www.usatoday.com, November 10, November 19, 2015). |
貧富差距懸殊。美國最窮的20%人口的收入僅占全民總收入的3.1%,而最富有的20%人口的收入占到51.4%。(注30)官方公布的2014年的貧困人口達到4670萬人。(注31)以特拉華州為例,生活在貧困線以下的人口由2013年的11.7%上升到了12.5%,其中威爾明頓市貧困線以下的人口占到了近25%,兒童的貧困率則高達20%左右。美國民眾對社會經(jīng)濟波動前景感到悲觀,79%的人相信更多人會掉出而不是上升到中產(chǎn)階級行列。(注32) | There was huge income gap between the rich and the poor. In the United States, 3.1 percent of income earned annually went to the poorest 20 percent of people, while 51.4 percent was earned by the richest 20 percent (www.usatoday.com, October 10, 2015). Official data showed that 46.7 million people were living in poverty in 2014. (www.census.gov). In Delaware, the percentage of people living below the federal poverty line in 2014 was 12.5 percent, creeping up from 11.7 percent in 2013. Nearly a quarter of residents of Wilmington, Delaware lived below the poverty line. The poverty rate for children was around 20 percent. U.S. people were pessimistic about the prospects of social and economic instability. Seventy-nine percent of Americans believed it was more common for people to fall out of the middle class than rise up to it (www.usatoday.com, June 9, November 23, 2015). |
食物無保障者規(guī)模龐大。據(jù)英國《衛(wèi)報》網(wǎng)站2015年11月26日報道,2008至2014年間,美國每年至少有4810萬人被官方認定為“食物無保障者”,包括19.2%有孩子的家庭,這意味著他們的均衡飲食難以保障。(注33)據(jù)美國疾病控制與防治中心評估,每年有4800萬人會患上食源性疾病,其中12.8萬人需要住院治療,3000人因此喪命。(注34)根據(jù)美國農(nóng)業(yè)部的最新數(shù)據(jù),大約五分之一的兒童生活在食品保障不足的家庭。(注35) | There was a large food-insecure population in the United States. According to a report published on the Guardian website on November 26, 2015, government statistics suggested that between 2008 and 2014 at least 48.1 million people a year were classed as "food insecure", including 19.2 percent of all households with children, meaning they could not always afford to eat balanced meals (www.theguardian.com, November 26, 2015). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that each year, 48 million people suffered from a foodborne illness, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths (www.pewtrusts.org, December 4, 2015). Approximately one fifth of all U.S. children lived in food-insecure households, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (america.aljazeera.com, October 8, 2015). |
數(shù)十萬人無家可歸?!督袢彰绹肪W(wǎng)站2015年6月9日報道,美國近幾年住房價格快速上漲,而居民收入?yún)s停滯不前,55%的民眾不得不為住房付出更高代價。全美地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀商協(xié)會的報告指出,房租和家庭收入之間的差距已經(jīng)擴大到無法維持的水平。(注36)據(jù)美國住房和城市發(fā)展部的報告,截至2015年11月18日,全國超過56萬人無家可歸,其中包括25%的18歲以下兒童。(注37)以紐約為例,2015年10月共有59568名無家可歸者每天夜里在庇護所里度過,比2005年高出86%,其中包括14361個家庭和23858名兒童。露宿街頭的無家可歸者普遍面臨著缺乏如廁和洗澡場所等問題。(注38)洛杉磯、西雅圖、波特蘭和夏威夷州近年來都曾因無家可歸者增多而宣布進入緊急狀態(tài)。(注39) | Hundreds of thousands of U.S. people were homeless. A report published on the USA Today website on June 9, 2015 said housing prices had skyrocketed in the United States in recent years, while income levels remained stagnant. Fifty-five percent of Americans had made more financial sacrifice to afford their housing. According to a report by the National Association of Realtors, the gap between rental costs and household income had been widening to unsustainable levels (www.usatoday.com, June 9, July 31, 2015). A study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that more than 560,000 people were homeless in the United States as of November 18, 2015. About one fourth of them were children under the age of 18 (www.hud.gov). In New York City, there were 59,568 homeless people, including 14,361 homeless families with 23,858 homeless children, sleeping each night in municipal shelters in October 2015, 86 percent higher than the number in 2005. People living on streets had no access to toilets or showers (www.pewtrusts.org, November 11, 2015). In recent years, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and the state of Hawaii have all recently declared emergencies over the rise of homelessness (www.presstv.ir, November 20, 2015). |
健康權保障不力。據(jù)美國政策創(chuàng)新研究所2015年9月18日發(fā)表的分析報告,盡管美國國會在2010年就通過了政府提出的醫(yī)療改革法案,承諾要建立全民醫(yī)保體系,但至今仍有3300萬人沒有醫(yī)療保險。(注40)美國醫(yī)療護理水平在11個發(fā)達國家中倒數(shù)第1,嬰兒死亡率最高。(注41)全國有超過6200個地方缺乏初級護理醫(yī)生。(注42)全國艾滋病感染者超過120萬人,其中八分之一的感染者并不知情。(注43)貧富群體的健康保障存在顯著差異。據(jù)法新社2015年10月14日報道,紐約市布魯克林區(qū)布朗斯維爾街區(qū)近40%的人生活在貧困線以下,其居民新感染艾滋病毒的比率為全紐約的2倍多,人均壽命比曼哈頓金融區(qū)的居民少11年。(注44) | Human right to health of U.S. people was not fully protected. According to a report of the Institute for Policy Innovation released on September 18, 2015, there were still 33 million people in the United States uninsured, although U.S. Congress had passed the health care reform bill in 2010, promising to establish a universal healthcare system (www.ipi.org, September 18, 2015). The United States was reported to have the worst medical care system and the highest number of infant mortalities out of 11 developed countries (borgenproject.org, August 23, 2015). There were more than 6,200 places nationwide with a shortage of primary care physicians (www.washingtonpost.com, December 12, 2015). Today, more than 1.2 million people in the United States were HIV-positive. About one in eight of those infected were unaware of their status (edition.cnn.com, December 9, 2015). There was a significant difference between the health conditions of the rich and the poor. According to an AFP report on October 14, 2015, in Brooklyn's poorest neighborhood of Brownsville, New York City, nearly 40 percent of its citizens lived below the federal poverty level. Brownsville suffered more than twice the rates of new HIV diagnoses in New York City. Its people died 11 years earlier than those living around Manhattan's financial district. (AFP, October 14, 2015). |
藥物濫用致死率再創(chuàng)新高。據(jù)美國疾病控制與防治中心報告顯示,藥物濫用成為當前美國主要的致病原因。藥物濫用致死率1999年至2013年增長了1倍多,從每十萬居民6.0人上升至13.8人。2014年,因藥物濫用造成超過47000人死亡,比2013年增加3018人。在所有藥物濫用中,海洛因濫用尤為突出。2002年至2013年,海洛因過量使用致死人數(shù)翻了近兩番,達到8200多人,2014年又猛增至10574人。在海洛因吸食者中,青年和女性增長明顯。與2002年至2004年相比,2011年至2013年吸食海洛因的18至25歲青年人數(shù)增長了109%,女性增長了100%。(注45) | Case fatality rate due to drug overdose set new record high. According to a CDC report, drug overdose was the leading cause of diseases in the United States. The death rate from drug overdose more than doubled from 6.0 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 13.8 in 2013. More than 47,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2014, an increase of 3,018 from 2013. Heroin poses the biggest issue among all forms of drug overdose. In 2013, deaths from heroin-related overdose exceeded 8,200, nearly quadrupling that of 2002. In 2014, the number surged to 10,574. Increasing number of young people and females took heroin. Compared with figures in the period from 2002 to 2004, the number of young heroin addicts aged between 18 and 25 in 2011-2013 period increased by 109 percent, while female users doubled (www.cdc.gov, October 16, December 29, 2015; www.usnews.com, December 18, 2015). |
(注28) 半島電視臺美國頻道網(wǎng)站(america.aljazeera.com),2015年2月2日,10月6日。 (注29) 《思考進步》網(wǎng)站(thinkprogress.org),2015年4月15日;《今日美國》網(wǎng)站(www.usatoday.com),2015年11月10日、19日。 (注30) 《今日美國》網(wǎng)站(www.usatoday.com),2015年10月10日。 (注31) 美國人口普查局報告,見www.census.gov。 (注32) 《今日美國》網(wǎng)站(www.usatoday.com),2015年6月9日、11月23日。 (注33) 英國《衛(wèi)報》網(wǎng)站(www.theguardian.com),2015年11月26日。 (注34) 皮尤中心網(wǎng)站(www.pewtrusts.org),2015年12月4日。 (注35) 半島電視臺美國頻道網(wǎng)站(america.aljazeera.com),2015年10月8日。 (注36) 《今日美國》網(wǎng)站(www.usatoday.com),2015年6月9日、7月31日。 (注37) 美國住房和城市發(fā)展部的報告,見www.hud.gov。 (注38) 皮尤慈善信托組織網(wǎng)站(www.pewtrusts.org),2015年11月11日。 (注39) 伊朗PRESS TV網(wǎng)站(www.presstv.ir),2015年11月20日。 (注40) 美國政策創(chuàng)新研究所網(wǎng)站(www.ipi.org),2015年9月18日。 (注41) 博根項目網(wǎng)站(borgenproject.org),2015年8月23日。 (注42) 《華盛頓郵報》網(wǎng)站(www.washingtonpost.com),2015年12月12日。 (注43) 美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)網(wǎng)站(edition.cnn.com),2015年12月9日。 (注44) 法新社,2015年10月14日。 (注45) 美國疾病防控中心網(wǎng)站(www.cdc.gov),2015年10月16日、12月29日;《美國新聞與世界報道》網(wǎng)站(www.usnews.com),2015年12月18日。 | |
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