經濟危機餘波未平 澳離婚率或大漲

Global markets may be edging toward recovery, but the worst impact of the global financial crunch on families and couples may be still ahead, a leading Australian charity said Wednesday.

"The economy, we've been told, is showing 'green shoots'. We've certainly not seen that," Kasy Chambers, executive director of Anglicare Australia, told reporters.

The crisis of the past year is still driving a wedge between couples and families, and could bring higher rates of divorce and breakup in the months ahead as more people lose jobs and come under financial stress, Chambers said, releasing a new report on the impact of the global crisis on families.

"If one member of a couple experiences unemployment in one calendar year, they are 70 percent more likely to experience divorce in the following year," she said.

The report said the financial fallout may continue for almost another year as companies tried and sometimes failed to retain staff. One in three families have already experienced financial distress this year, government reports show.

"What we've seen is a real lag," Chambers said. "We've started seeing people we've never before seen in emergency relief services such as those with mortgages, people you wouldn't expect to be coming to us."

澳大利亞一家知名慈善機構於本週三稱，全球市場雖出現復甦跡象，但對於家庭和伴侶們來說，全球金融危機所造成的最惡劣影響尚未顯現。

澳大利亞安格利福利救濟社執行主管凱西•錢伯斯在接受記者採訪時說：“據稱，經濟已出現‘綠色復甦’跡象，不過我們的確還沒看見。”

錢伯斯在發佈一份有關全球經濟危機對家庭影響的最新報告時稱，過去一年的經濟危機仍在影響着家庭和夫妻關係，隨着更多的人失業並陷入經濟困境，未來數月內的離婚率和分手率會上升。

她說：“如果夫妻雙方中有一人在一年之中失業，那麼他們第二年離婚的機率會增加70%。”

報告稱，雖然各公司盡力不裁員，但有時仍無法避免，因此金融危機的餘波仍將持續近一年。政府報告顯示，今年有三分之一的家庭已陷入經濟困境。

錢伯斯說：“我們見到的是真正的滯後影響。以前從不需要緊急援助的人也開始來尋求救助了，比如那些需要還貸的人，而這些人以前你是不會想到會來找我們的。”

Vocabulary:

edge: to advance gradually or cautiously（徐徐移動，漸漸移動）

drive a wedge between：to separate or split with or as if with a wedge（打進楔子；破壞關係；例如：The argument drove a wedge between Mike and his father. 這次爭吵破壞了邁克和他爸爸之間的關係。）

calendar year：公曆年

fallout：effects; results（後果；餘波）