4月9日发表的一份报告显示，20世纪80年代末以来，美国最富有与最贫困阶层之间的差距明显拉大。2000年以来，贫困者收入有所下降。

The gap between the richest and the poorest in the US has widened dramatically since the late 1980s, while the incomes of the least well-off have fallen since the start of the decade, according to a report out on the 9 April .

2004年至2006年间，美国最富裕的5%家庭的平均收入，是最贫困的20%家庭的12倍以上，而1987年至1989年间，这一差距约为9倍。

The nation’s wealthiest 5 per cent of families were paid on average more than 12 times as much as the poorest fifth in 2004-6, compared with nearly nine times as much in 1987-9.

“经济政策研究所”(Economic Policy Institute)与“预算和政策优先中心”(Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)的此项研究表明，在上述20年内，最富裕的20%家庭每年增加的收入，比最贫穷的20%家庭同期内增加的收入还多。

During those two decades, the richest fifth of families added more to their income in each year than the poorest fifth did over the entire period, the study by the Economic Policy Institute and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows.

不过，受贫富差距加大冲击最大的，不仅仅是美国最贫穷的人。此份报告研究了包含联邦税收和通胀因素后的收入变化，报告发现，中产阶级也认为，与富裕阶层相比，自己的工资增长速度缓慢。

But the poorest people in the US were not the only ones to feel the pinch of increased inequality. The report, which studied changes in income after accounting for federal tax and inflation, found those in the middle also saw their wages grow slowly in comparison with the better-off.

过去20年，最富裕的5%家庭收入增加了82607美元，至22.07万美元，增幅为60%；而最富裕的20%家庭收入则增长了35027美元，至13.2131万美元，增幅为36%。

The richest 5 per cent have seen their incomes rise by 60 per cent, or $82,607, to $220,700 over the last two decades, and the richest fifth saw their wages rise by 36 per cent, or $35,027, to $132,131.

中间20%的家庭收入增加了5784美元，至50434美元，增幅为13%；而最贫困的20%家庭收入增长11%至18116美元，增加了1814美元。

The middle fifth have seen $5,784 in extra income, a 13 per cent rise to $50,434, while the poorest fifth saw a rise of $1,814 or 11 per cent to $18,116.

虽然此份报告表明，上世纪80年代末以来，社会各阶层的收入均出现增长，但自1998年至2000年以来，最贫困的20%家庭收入下降了2.5%，而最富裕的20%家庭收入增长了9.1%。

Meanwhile, although incomes among all slices of society measured by the report have risen since the late 1980s, since 1998-2000 the income of the poorest fifth has fallen by 2.5 per cent, while the wealthiest fifth saw income rise by 9.1 per cent.

在报告所涵盖的20年内，美国37个州的贫富差距有所扩大，另外13个州则无明显变化。

Over the two decades that the report covers, inequality rose in 37 US states and had not changed significantly in the other 13.

收入差距最大的5个州是纽约州、阿拉巴马州，密西西比州、马萨诸塞州和田纳西州。

The top five states for income inequality were New York, Alabama, Mississippi, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

在马萨诸塞州，自上世纪80年代以来，最富裕的5%家庭收入平均增加了146658美元，而最贫困的20%家庭收入仅增加324美元。

In Massachusetts, while income for the wealthiest 5 per cent rose by an average of $146,658 from the late 1980s, income for the bottom fifth rose by just $324.

“贫富差距会影响经济以应有速度增长的能力，”报告作者之一贾里德?伯恩斯坦(Jared Bernstein)表示，“当贫富差距过大，它将会自我演绎，给流动性带来阻碍。”

“Inequality can hurt the economy’s ability to grow at the rate it should,” said Jared Bernstein, one of the report’s authors. “It feeds on itself when it gets too high and can create barriers to mobility.”