2026年3月17日 / 美国东部时间下午3:31 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
根据最新研究，约有一半的美国人无法达到维持基本生活所需的年收入标准。
美国城市研究所3月16日发布的报告显示，有孩子的美国家庭要实现经济安全，年收入需约14.5万美元。该无党派智库发现，约49%的美国人生活在这一财务门槛之下。
美国人口普查数据显示，2024年（最新可用数据），美国家庭中已婚夫妇的家庭收入中位数为128,700美元。
经济安全的构成要素
根据城市研究所的分析，当今的经济安全包括有足够的钱支付：
- 充足的食物
- 衣物
- 住房
- 医疗保健
- 儿童保育
- 交通
- 高等教育
- 学生贷款还款
- 应急和退休储蓄
- 其他费用，如个人护理产品
经济压力下的挣扎
这项研究发布之际，许多美国人仍在感受物价上涨带来的压力，甚至一些六位数收入的家庭也表示难以支付水电费和医疗保健等基本开支。
陷入”仓鼠轮经济”
虽然城市研究所的衡量标准与衡量极端贫困的贫困率不同，但它表明，即使是收入较高的人，可能仍然觉得自己的收入不足以支撑他们的繁荣生活。
城市研究所税收和收入支持部门副总裁、报告合著者格雷戈里·阿克斯（Gregory Acs）经济学家在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时表示：”这与我们听到的人们的经历一致——他们可能并不穷困潦倒，但有些人会拖欠账单——有些人虽然定期支付账单，但并没有真正改善经济状况。”
他补充道：”他们感觉自己在’仓鼠轮经济’中打转。”
分析称，年收入超过14.5万美元可让人们实现经济进步并感到财务安全。
阿克斯表示：”如果更多人觉得自己的努力得到了回报，他们会有更强的自主感，就能投入更多时间到社区和家庭中。父母可以在孩子身上投入更多——时间、精力和金钱。”
真正的贫困线是多少？
这项分析呼应了2025年华尔街策略师迈克尔·格林（Michael Green）在Substack上的一篇病毒式帖子，该帖子指出，美国的实际贫困线——即支付食物和住房等生活必需品所需的收入——实际上远高于政府官方公布的贫困线（四口之家为3.3万美元）。
根据格林的计算，收入低于14万美元的美国人应被视为贫困，因为他们的收入不足以支付住房、儿童保育和食品等基本开支——这与城市研究所分析中使用的衡量标准类似。
阿克斯在提到格林的帖子时说：”他称之为贫困率——我认为实际上更像是经济安全率。他的直觉计算，与我们汇总的各项费用大致相符。”
阿克斯指出，考虑到过去几年工资和通胀相对同步上涨，2026年可能仍有相同比例的美国人低于经济安全门槛。不过，一些家庭今年可能面临更严重的财务压力，例如那些在1月份因《平价医疗法案》（Affordable Care Act）计划的额外保费税收抵免到期而失去该福利的家庭。
谁最易陷入经济困境
分析发现，生活在城市研究所经济安全门槛以下的人群比例因种族、年龄和家庭构成而异。单亲家庭的经济安全率最低，约90%的单亲家庭低于该研究机构提出的门槛。
研究发现，约80%的美国租房者低于经济安全线，这一比例大约是房主的两倍。报告还指出，约45%有65岁以上成员的家庭缺乏经济安全保障。
城市研究所表示，65岁以下无子女家庭的年收入需约95,900美元以满足基本需求，低于有孩子的家庭，主要是因为他们不需要支付儿童保育费用。
有至少一名65岁以上成年人的家庭需要108,500美元才能实现经济安全。分析发现，虽然这类家庭不需要儿童保育费用，但老年家庭的医疗保健成本往往更高。
编辑：Alain Sherter
A typical U.S. family needs annual income of $145,000 to thrive, study finds. About half fall short.
March 17, 2026 / 3:31 PM EDT / CBS News
Roughly half of Americans fall short of the annual income needed to cover their basic needs, according to new research.
A U.S. family with children needs about $145,000 in income to be considered economically secure, according to a March 16 report from the Urban Institute. About 49% of Americans live below that financial threshold, the nonpartisan think tank found.
In 2024 (the latest available data), the median household income for married couples in the U.S. was $128,700, U.S. Census data shows.
Ingredients for economic security
According to Urban’s analysis, economic security today includes having enough money to pay for:
- Adequate food
- Clothing
- Housing
- Health care
- Child care
- Transportation
- Postsecondary education
- Student loan repayments
- Savings for emergencies and retirement
- Additional costs, such as for personal care products
The research comes as many Americans continue to feel the pinch of rising prices, with even some six-figure households saying they are struggling to pay for basics like utilities and health care.
Riding the “hamster wheel”
While Urban’s measure differs from the poverty rate, which measures extreme hardship, it signals that even people with good-paying jobs may still not be earning enough to feel as if they are thriving.
“That is consistent with the experiences that we’re hearing from people — that they might not be destitute, but some of them are skipping bills — and some of them are making their bills on a regular basis, but they’re not getting ahead,” economist Gregory Acs, vice president of Urban’s tax and income supports division and a co-author of the report, told CBS News.
He added, “They feel like they’re on the hamster wheel economy.”
Earning above the $145,000 annual income threshold allows people to get ahead and feel financially secure, the analysis said.
“If you have more people feeling that their efforts are rewarded, that they have a stronger sense of autonomy, they are able to devote more time to their own communities, to their own families,” Acs said. “Parents can invest more in their kids — time, energy, money.”
The real poverty line?
The analysis echoes a viral Substack post from 2025 by Wall Street strategist Michael Green that posited that the actual poverty line in the U.S. — or how much you have to earn to afford necessities like food and shelter — is in reality much higher than the government’s official number, which stands at $33,000 for a family of four.
By Green’s calculation, Americans who earn less than $140,000 should be considered poor because their income isn’t sufficient to pay for basics like housing, childcare and food — similar to the measures the Urban Institute used in its analysis.
“He called it a poverty rate — I think it actually was more of an economic security rate,” Acs said, referring to Green’s post. “His intuition, in his back-of-the-envelope calculation, is broadly consistent with the way we added things up.”
The same share of Americans likely remains below the economic security threshold in 2026, Acs noted, given that wages and inflation have been rising relatively in tandem in the last several years. Still, some households may be facing more acute financial stress this year, such as those who lost enhanced premium health credits for the Affordable Care Act plans when they expired in January.
Who struggles most
The share of people who live below Urban’s economic security threshold varies by race, age and family composition, the analysis found. Single-parent households have among the lowest rates of economic security, with about 90% below the research firm’s proposed threshold.
About 8 in 10 U.S. renters fall below the economic security line, roughly double the rate of homeowners, the research found, which also noted that about 45% of families with one member over the age of 65 lack economic security.
Under-65 households without children need about $95,900 in annual earnings to meet basic needs, less than families with kids, largely because they don’t face child care costs, according to Urban.
Families with at least one adult over 65 require $108,500 for economic security. While they don’t require childcare, older households tend to have higher healthcare costs, the analysis found.
Edited by Alain Sherter
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