不論在哪國，在傳統上都是要求先結婚后生娃。但是現在，越來越多的年輕人走上了未婚生婦的道路。據最近發表在《美國社會學評論》（American Sociological Review）上的一篇論文稱，這在很大程度上是由收入不均而導致的。

該論文是由約翰霍普金斯大學教授安德魯·J·切爾林領導的研究團隊發表的。論文指出，許多年輕人，特別是沒有大學文憑者，由于就業市場上的工作機會短缺，往往更傾向于未婚生子，這也是收入失衡的一個表象。

相當一部分年輕人不想在沒有穩定收入的情況下組建家庭——但是他們依然想要孩子。

論文指出：“當地收入失衡的程度越大，男性和女性在要第一個孩子前結婚的比率就越低。之所以存在這種關聯，在某種程度上，是由于當地缺乏能夠支付貧困線以上工資的中等技能工作機會。”所謂的“中等技能”工作，是指那些不需要大學學歷的工作，比如電工、建筑工、保安等。

這種現象也反映了美國中產階層的人數正在縮水。不少工作因為計算機化和離岸外包而消失或轉移了。與此同時，中產階層的薪資水平也出現了下降——當然，這個現象并非美國所獨有。而這也解釋了為什么在此次大選中，一些黨外人士和激進主義者也受到了如此之高的追捧。

有些社會學家也指出，收入失衡可能也會給居民帶來一些其他影響。如馬里蘭大學經濟學教授梅莉莎·科爾尼和威爾斯利學院經濟學教授菲利浦·萊文認為，收入失衡加深了青春期女性的經濟邊緣化之感，導致她們對未來感到經濟上的無助和絕望。

由于這些少女覺得她們未來的經濟狀況可能不會通過一份工作或婚姻而得到改善，因而她們可能會選擇早一些生育子女，以便以后有工作機會時不至于錯過。或許這就解釋了為什么各州的長期收入失衡水平與青春期少女的未婚生子率相關。

在1997年到2011年間，切爾林及其團隊一共研究了9000名對象，其間這些研究對象的年齡都在26至31歲之間。 （財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

Tradition dictates marriage then children.But more and more young adults are headed for babies before the wedding, largely thanks to income inequality, according to a study published in the American Sociological Review.

Young adults, mostly those without a college degree, are more likely to have children before marriage due to a shortage of jobs in the middle of the job market—a symptom of income inequality, according to the study authored by a team of researchers led by Andrew J. Cherlin, a public policy professor at John Hopkins University.

And young people don’t want to enter a marriage without a stable income—though they still want children.

“The greater the local level of income inequality, the less likely men and women are to marry before having a first child—an association that appears driven in part by the lack of middle-skilled jobs that pay above-poverty wages,” the team wrote. These “middle-skilled” jobs are those that don’t require a college degree, including electricians, manufacturing, and security guards.

That comes as the middle class has become a shrinking force in the U.S. Some jobs have swept away by a wave of computerization and offshoring, while wages, in not only the U.S., have fallen for the middle class—explaining, for some, why party outsiders and radicals have gained such popularity this election cycle.

Other sociologists have also said that income inequality may have other effects on citizens. Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine, professors of economics at University of Maryland and Wellesley College respectively, have argued that income inequality increases a teen girl’s sense of economic marginalization, and causes them to feel economic hopelessness and despair regarding their future.

As these girls come to believe their financial future cannot, or is unlikely to be, improved with a job or through marriage, they may also come to think that they won’t lose opportunities, such as having a job, by having children early. That may explain why long-term income inequality at the state level is associated with more births out of wedlock among adolescent girls.

Cherlin and his team studied 9,000 people between 1997 to 2011, when the participants were 26 to 31.