VOA慢速英语2020 美国同性婚姻合法后同性婚姻剧增

Gay Marriage Up 70% in US Since Legalization

Same-sex marriages now make up a half a million American households, five years after the Supreme¹ Court legalized such relationships.

在美国最高法院将同性婚姻合法化五年后，现在美国婚姻家庭中有50万为同性婚姻。

The U.S. Census² Bureau reported last week that the number of married same-sex households has increased by almost 70 percent since 2014. The numbers are based on the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

上周美国人口普查局报告称，自2014年以来，已婚同性家庭的数量增加了近70%。这一数字是基于人口普查局的美国社区的调查。

The survey found that about 980,000 households in the country belong to same-sex couples. It showed 58 percent, or a little more than 586,000, as married. The other 42 percent lived together outside of marriage.

调查发现，美国约98万户家庭属于同性伴侣。调查显示，其中58%——略高于58.6万人已婚。另外42%的人则属于婚前同居。

There were more female couple households than male couple households, but not by a lot. Gary Gates, is a demographer³ specializing in LGBT issues. He said, "Opponents of marriage equality frequently argued that same-sex couples really weren't all that interested in marriage. But the large increase in marriages among same-sex couples since marriage equality became legal nationwide offers evidence of the clear desire for marriage among same-sex couples."

女性同性家庭比男性同性家庭多，但差距并不明显。盖瑞·盖茨（Gary Gates）是专门研究同性恋问题的人口统计学家。他表示：“反对婚姻平等的人经常争辩称，同性伴侣对婚姻并不是很感兴趣。但是，自从婚姻平等在全国范围内合法化以来，同性伴侣之间的婚姻大幅增加，证明了同性伴侣十分渴望婚姻。”

The survey showed noticeable economic differences between male couples and female couples, as well as same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples.

这项调查显示，男性夫妇和女性夫妇以及同性伴侣和异性伴侣之间存在明显的经济差异。

The study found that same-sex married couples generally earned more money, with average earnings⁴ of about $107,000 a year. That compares to almost $97,000 for opposite-sex couples. Among same-sex marriages, male couples earned more than female couples -- $123,646 compared to $87,690.

研究发现，同性已婚夫妇的收入普遍较高，平均年收入约为10.7万美元。相比之下，异性伴侣的收入接近9.7万美元。在同性婚姻中，男性同性夫妇的收入比女性同性夫妇高，分别为12,3646美元和8,7690美元。

The research also found that same-sex married households were more likely to be in the workforce⁵ than opposite-sex married households -- 84.6 percent compared to 80.4 percent.

研究还发现，与异性结婚的家庭相比，同性婚姻家庭更有可能处于工作状态——比例为84.6%比80.4%。

The study showed married women in same-sex households were much more likely to be working than married women in opposite-sex households. But married men in same-sex households were less likely to be working than married men in opposite-sex ones.

研究显示，同性家庭中的已婚女性比异性家庭中的已婚女性更有可能处于工作状态。但是同性家庭中的已婚男性比异性家庭中的已婚男性工作的可能性要小。

Gates said, "While most research that gay and bisexual men, on average, do not earn more than their comparable heterosexual male counterparts, that research also shows that they tend to earn more than lesbian and bisexual women."

盖茨称：“虽然大多数研究表明，男同性恋和双性恋男性的平均收入并不比异性恋男性高，但研究也表明他们的收入往往高于女同性恋和双性恋女性。”

Separate survey results also released Thursday show that almost 15 percent of same-sex couples had at least one child under the age of 18. The same is true of a little more than 48 percent of opposite-sex couples.

周四公布的另一项调查结果显示，近15%的同性伴侣至少有一个18岁以下的孩子。而超过48%的异性伴侣也是如此。

Of the nearly 300,000 children living in homes with same-sex couples, 66 percent were children of both partners, compared to 95 percent for opposite-sex couples, reports the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.

美国人口普查局最新人口调查报告显示，有近30万儿童生活在同性伴侣家庭，其中66%是伴侣双方的孩子，而在异性伴侣家庭中这一比例为95%。

The District of Columbia had the greatest concentration of same-sex households. In the nation's capital, about 2.4 percent of households are same-sex households. The nearby state of Delaware followed, with 1.3 percent. The states of Oregon, Massachusetts and Washington came next, all a little over one percent, the survey found.

哥伦比亚特区是同性家庭最为集中的地区。在首都，大约2.4%的家庭是同性家庭。附近的特拉华州紧随其后，比例为1.3%。调查发现，排在后面的分别为俄勒冈州、马萨诸塞州和华盛顿州，都略高于1%。

In the survey, more than 16 percent of same-sex married households were interracial couples, double the rate for opposite-sex married couples.

在这项调查中，超过16%的同性婚姻家庭中夫妻属于不同种族——比例是异性婚姻家庭的两倍。

The U.S. had 122 million households in 2019. The number of gay and lesbian couples in the country is greater than 980,000 since that number only represented same-sex households.

2019年美国有1.22亿个家庭。而美国同性恋夫妇的数量会超过98万——这一数字只代表同性家庭。

The 2019 American Community Survey for the first time included updated relationship identifications that better captured the number and qualities of same-sex households in the United States.

2019年的美国社区调查首次纳入了同性夫妻合法这条新规，更好地记录了美国同性家庭的数量和质量。

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 demographer   

n.人口统计学家

参考例句：

• Professor Antonio Golini is a demographer at the University of Rome. 罗马大学安东尼奥教授是位人口统计学家。 来自互联网
• Demographer William Frey says immigrants with young families will help keep the United States competitive. 人口统计学家佛瑞表示这些年轻的家庭会帮助美国保持竞争力。 来自互联网

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。