可负担性是即将到来的中期选举的一个主要主题。但并非所有家庭都同样感受到财务压力 — — 这可能会对人们在11月的投票方式产生影响，经济学家和政治专家如是说。
Affordability is a major theme of the upcoming midterm elections. But not all households are feeling the financial strain equally — and that could have implications for how people vote in November, according to economists and political experts.
具体来说，与年轻家庭（如千禧一代）相比，年长的美国人更能抵御可负担性危机，专家们表示。
Specifically, older Americans are more insulated from the affordability crunch than younger households like millennials, the experts said.
“可负担性是即将到来的中期选举的核心问题，”布鲁金斯学会（一个智库）的高级研究员、治理研究主席威廉·加尔斯顿说。“没有其他问题能与之相比。” “谁感受到这些压力最小？老年人，”他说。为什么老年人“生活状况不错”这并不是说年长的美国人 — — 通常指65岁及以上的人 — — 没有感受到任何财务压力。
"Affordability is the central issue in the forthcoming midterm elections," said William Galston, a senior fellow and chair of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a think tank. "Nothing else is close." "Who's feeling these pressures the least? Seniors," he said. Why seniors are 'doing pretty well' This isn't to say that older Americans — generally, those age 65 and older — aren't feeling any financial pressures.
他们确实和其他人一样，在顽固的高通胀下为食品、汽油、电力和其他物品支付了更多费用，经济学家表示。这也不是说所有年轻家庭都觉得生活变得更难以负担。
They're certainly paying more for food, gasoline, electricity and other items like everybody else amid stubbornly high inflation, economists said. It's also not to say that all young households find life to be more unaffordable.
然而，总体来看，老年人比例更高地拥有自己的住房，且不太可能是首次购房者 — — 这意味着他们较少暴露于快速上升的抵押贷款利率和房价之中，经济学家表示。他们通常驾驶里程更少，且保留汽车时间更长 — — 因此对高油价和上升的债券收益率不太敏感，而这些因素推高了汽车贷款利率，经济学家表示。
However, in aggregate, seniors disproportionately own their homes and are less likely to be first-time homebuyers — meaning they're less exposed to fast-rising mortgage rates and home prices, economists said. They generally drive fewer miles and keep their cars longer — making them less sensitive to high gasoline prices and rising bond yields, which have put upward pressure on auto loan rates, economists said.
此外，大多数老年人也不需要托儿服务 — — 这一类别的费用近年来飙升，经济学家表示。
Most also don't need childcare, a category that has seen prices soar in recent years, economists said.
而且，退休人员收入的一个重要部分 — — 社会保障 — — 通过生活成本调整机制免受通胀影响，他们表示。社会保障局周三宣布，2027年的福利将增加3.6%，这一生活成本调整幅度高于平均水平。
And an important chunk of retirees' income — Social Security — is protected from inflation via cost-of-living adjustments, they said. The Social Security Administration on Wednesday announced a 3.6% boost to benefits for 2027, a larger-than-average COLA increase.
“把这些因素综合起来看，我会说 — — 尤其是如果你75岁以上的话 — — 与美国其他人相比，你的情况还不错，”加尔斯顿说。“而感受到最大压力的是30到45岁之间的年轻家庭。”年轻人更加“失望”财经数据支持这种代际分歧。
"You put it all together, and I would say that — especially if you're 75 and above — you're doing pretty well compared to the rest of America," Galston said. "And the people who are feeling the most pressure are young families in the 30 to 45-year-old range." Young people more 'disillusioned' Financial data supports this generational divide.
穆迪首席经济学家马克·赞迪为CNBC进行了一项分析，结果显示，婴儿潮一代 — — 以及年长的沉默一代和最伟大的一代 — — 在2019年1月至2026年8月期间经历了消费者价格的最低涨幅。赞迪使用劳工统计局的数据，按代际生成了加权消费者价格指数。
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's, conducted an analysis for CNBC showing that baby boomers — along with the older silent and greatest generations — experienced the lowest increase in consumer prices from January 2019 through August 2026. Zandi used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to generate a weighted consumer price index by generation.
赞迪发现，年长群体在该时期内消费者价格的累计变化大约为31.5%。
Older cohorts saw a roughly 31.5% cumulative percent change in consumer prices over that time period, Zandi found.
与此同时，千禧一代相较于其他群体经历了最高的累计价格增长 — — 比年长美国人高出近2个百分点，达到33.3%。作为最年轻的成年群体，Z世代的涨幅居第二，达到32.7%。
Meanwhile, millennials saw the highest cumulative price growth relative to other groups — nearly 2 percentage points higher than that of older Americans, at 33.3%. Generation Z, the youngest adult group, had the second-highest rate, at 32.7%.
“年轻人确实承受着比年长美国人更高的通胀率，”赞迪说。“这一点在数据中表现得非常清楚。” “可以说，年轻美国人是最失望的一群，因为他们正面临最高的通胀，因此可能会以更高的比例参与投票，”他说。“这种趋势应该会有利于民主党。”
"Young people are definitely suffering higher rates of inflation than older Americans," Zandi said. "That comes through loud and clear in the data." "Younger Americans are arguably most disillusioned as they are facing the highest inflation, and thus may turn out to vote to a greater degree," a dynamic that should favor Democrats, he said.
路透社/益普索上周发布的一项民调显示，78%的美国人认为白宫应对更高费用负有责任。根据该民调，该比例包括64%的共和党人、76%的无党派人士和95%的民主党人。该民调调查了4506名美国成年人，误差范围为正负1.5个百分点。
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week found 78% of Americans said the White House shares blame for higher costs. The share includes 64% of Republicans, 76% of independents and 95% of Democrats, according to the poll, which surveyed 4,506 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.
“当人们感到经济拮据时，他们会期待领导层向他们提出解决方案，这公平地说，”加拿大皇家银行美国经济主管迈克尔·里德说。“我认为，你会看到一些选民投票，并把目前不在任的人视为解决方案。”预测显示，共和党人在即将举行的中期选举中有失去众议院多数席位的趋势，而参议院多数席位“正在民主党的视野之中”，据提供选举和竞选非党派分析的《库克政治报告》与艾米·沃尔特报道。
"I think it's fair to say when people are feeling pinched, they look for somebody in leadership to come to them with a solution," said Michael Reid, head of U.S. economics at the Royal Bank of Canada. "I think you'll see some voters turn out and look for whoever is not currently in office as a solution." Projections indicate Republicans are on track to lose their majority in the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterms, and the Senate majority is "squarely in Democrats' sights," according to the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, which provides nonpartisan analysis of elections and campaigns.
白宫发言人马修·米德尔顿在一封电子邮件中对CNBC表示，唐纳德·特朗普总统为美国人带来了“切实的胜利”，包括一项大规模减税方案，该方案减少了退休人员以及获得小费和加班费的工人的税收，等等。
White House spokesperson Matthew Middleton told CNBC in an e-mail that President Donald Trump has delivered "tangible wins" to Americans, includingg a large tax-cut package, which reduced taxes for retirees and workers who get tips and overtime pay, among other things.
他还写道，特朗普正在“兑现承诺”，制止通胀，提升经济增长，创造就业，“未来两年还会有更多”。
Trump is also "delivering on his promise" to stop inflation, raise economic growth, create jobs, "and there will be more to come in the next two years," he wrote.
住房成本挤压年轻美国人。齐兰迪表示，年轻人将更多预算用于住房，这在很大程度上解释了代际间的可负担性差距。数据显示，多年来住房变得越来越不可负担。
Housing costs squeeze younger Americans Younger people spend more of their budgets on housing, which largely accounts for the generational divide in affordability, Zandi said. Data show that housing has become increasingly less affordable over the years.
据美联储上周发布的《消费者财务调查》，2025年，30年期固定利率抵押贷款的每月所需付款约占中位数家庭收入的33%——这是历史最高水平，而2022年为26%。
In 2025, the monthly required payment for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was about 33% of the median family's income — an all-time high and up from 26% in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, published last week.
该调查由美联储每三年发布一次，SCF表示，这7个百分点的增幅主要由利率上升推动，部分原因是房价上涨。
This 7-percentage-point increase was largely driven by rising interest rates, and partly because of higher house prices, according to the SCF, which the Fed issues every three years.
根据弗雷迪·麦克（Freddie Mac）的数据，2023年10月15日那一周的30年期固定利率抵押贷款平均利率为7.4%。这是大约三年来的最高水平——自2023年11月以来——且较一年前的约6.3%有所上升。弗雷迪·麦克的数据显示，除去疫情后时期，抵押贷款平均利率自2000年以来未曾达到如此高点。与此同时，房价涨幅远超工资增长。
Average rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage were 7.4% the week of Oct. 15, according to Freddie Mac data. That's the highest in about three years — since November 2023 — and up from about 6.3% a year ago. Outside of the post-pandemic period, average mortgage rates haven't been this high since 2000, according to Freddie Mac data. Meanwhile, home prices have outpaced wage gains by a wide margin.
根据非党派、非营利研究机构皮尤研究中心（Pew Research Center）的数据，2019年至2024年期间，通胀调整后的中位住宅价值增长了30%，从269,600美元升至350,000美元。在此期间，由40岁以下人户主的家庭通胀调整后的中位家庭收入仅增长了9%——从92,700美元增至100,900美元。
Between 2019 and 2024, the inflation-adjusted median home value increased 30%, from $269,600 to $350,000, according to the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group. The inflation-adjusted median household income for households headed by those under 40 rose only 9% — from $92,700 to $100,900 — during that time, it found.
皮尤研究中心表示，年轻人群的房价收入比达到当前水平的唯一其他时期是在2000年代中期的房地产泡沫期间。
The only other time when the price-to-income ratio for young people reached its current level was during the housing bubble of the mid-2000s, Pew said.
托儿服务加剧了可负担性危机 布鲁金斯学会（Brookings Institution）的加尔斯顿（Galston）表示，托儿费用的上涨速度也“显著快于”整体通胀率。
Childcare adds to the affordability crunch Childcare costs have also risen "substantially faster" than the overall inflation rate, said Galston, with the Brookings Institution.
美国银行研究所（Bank of America Institute）在2025年10月发布的一份报告发现，托儿费用的上涨速度是美国整体通胀率的1.5倍。
A Bank of America Institute report published in October 2025 found that childcare expenses are rising 1.5 times faster than the overall U.S. inflation rate.
根据劳工部（Labor Department）2024年的一份报告，家庭用于单个孩子全日制托儿服务的支出约占其中位年收入的9%至16%，在某些情况下，这一费用甚至超过其年租金。
Families spend about 9% to 16% of their median annual income on full-day care for just one child, and in some cases that cost exceeds their annual rent, according to a 2024 Labor Department report.
加尔斯顿表示，一些家庭可以用更便宜的商品替代更昂贵的商品——例如，买鸡肉而不是牛肉——作为抗通胀策略。但他指出，对于正在寻找住房或托儿服务的家庭来说，几乎不可能规避这些开支。
Some households can substitute cheaper items for more expensive ones — like buying chicken instead of beef, for example — as an anti-inflation strategy, Galston said. But it's not really possible to dodge those expenses for families looking for a house or childcare, he said.
与此同时，年轻美国家庭财富下降，而年长家庭财富激增 根据美联储（Fed）的消费者财务调查（Survey of Consumer Finances），2022年至2025年期间，最年轻家庭的财富“显著”下降，而年长家庭的财富则大幅上升。
Young Americans lose wealth as older households gain Meanwhile, wealth declined "substantially" for the youngest families from 2022 to 2025, while it soared for older households, according to the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances.
调查发现，35岁以下户主家庭的中位净资产下降了23%，降至3.3万美元；而75岁及以上户主家庭的净资产则上升了37%，达到约50.5万美元。
Families headed by those younger than 35 saw their median net worth fall 23% to $33,000, while families headed by those 75 and older saw it rise 37% to about $505,000, the survey found.
自2023年以来，股票年化收益率一直保持在两位数以上，这主要得益于人工智能带来的乐观情绪——这类资产往往集中在老年家庭中。
Stocks have posted double-digit annual returns since 2023, largely on the back of euphoria over artificial intelligence — assets that tend to be concentrated among older households.
美联储表示，最年长年龄组的净资产增长“相较于年轻年龄组来说规模巨大”，以至于他们的净资产超过了那些即将退休或刚刚退休的家庭——这与前几年的调查结果形成对比。
The rise in net worth for the oldest age group is "so large relative to younger age groups" that their net worth exceeded that of families that were nearly or recently retired — in contrast with the previous few survey years, according to the Fed.
加拿大皇家银行的雷德表示，老年家庭可以利用其财富增加来支持消费。
Older households can leverage the increase in their wealth to support spending, said Reid, with the Royal Bank of Canada.
摩根大通研究所上月发布的一份报告显示，他们确实如此。报告指出，超过37%的富裕退休人员——即年龄在65岁以上且收入位列前10%的人群——在2025年从其投资账户中净提取资金以支持消费，而2019年这一比例为24.5%。该报告基于对超过2000万个经过去身份识别的Chase支票账户的分析得出。这些提取额占退休人员消费的约15%，而2019年这一比例为8%。
A JPMorganChase Institute report published last month shows they are doing exactly that. More than 37% of wealthy retirees — people age 65 or older in the top 10% income group — made net withdrawals from their investment accounts in 2025 to support their spending, up from 24.5% in 2019, according to the report, which examined more than 20 million de-identified Chase checking accounts. Those withdrawals accounted for about 15% of retirees' spending, up from 8% in 2019.
“毫无疑问，年轻一代在净财富方面处境更糟，”他说。“年轻家庭要么必须承担更多债务以维持预算或生活方式，要么就在某些方面削减开支。而我认为，从整体来看，老年家庭目前还不需要做出这种选择。”
"Certainly the younger generations look worse off in terms of net wealth," he said. "Younger households either have to take on more debt to keep their budget or lifestyle the same, or cut back somewhere. And I don't think older households are having to make that choice yet, in aggregate."
当然，经济学家指出，老年美国人往往将更高比例的收入用于医疗保健支出，相较于年轻一代而言。
Safety net advantage for older Americans Of course, seniors tend to spend more of their income on healthcare relative to younger generations, economists said.
“他们在医疗和长期护理方面承担着高得多的费用，”北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校健康政策与政治学教授乔纳森·奥伯兰德说，“而且，涵盖医生就诊和其他门诊服务的B部分医保保费，近年来大幅上涨。”根据医保受托人委员会年度报告，2027年B部分医保保费预计将上涨至每月209.50美元，较2026年的202.90美元上涨3%以上。
"They are burdened by much higher costs for medical care and long-term care," said Jonathan Oberlander, a professor of health policy and political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "And the premium for Medicare Part B — which covers physician visits and other outpatient services — has grown substantially during recent years." Medicare premiums are expected to rise to $209.50 per month for Part B in 2027, up more than 3% from $202.90 in 2026, according to the Medicare Board of Trustees annual report.
许多工人在2027年可能面临雇主赞助的健康保险以及在《平价医疗法案》市场购买的健康保险的更大幅度保费上涨。
Many workers may face a larger premium increase in 2027 for employer-sponsored health coverage and health insurance bought on the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
加尔斯顿表示，美国社会安全网也普遍“倾向”老年人，使他们相较于年轻群体拥有巨大的负担能力优势。
The U.S. social safety net is also broadly "tilted" toward seniors, giving them a big affordability advantage over younger cohorts, said Galston.
他说，除了社会保障收入的通胀调整外，需要长期护理的老年人还可以依靠医疗补助作为最后的财务保障，以防其金融资产耗尽。
Aside from inflation adjustments to Social Security income, older adults who require long-term care have Medicaid as a last-resort backstop in case their financial assets are depleted, he said.
“同样，那里有一个安全网，”他说，“并不是说你会流落街头。”
"There, again, there's a safety net," he said. "It's not as though you'll be out on the street."