❶Against a backdrop of drastic changes in economy and population structure, younger Americans are drawing a new 21st-century road map to success, a latest poll has found.
❶Across generational lines, Americans continue to prize （36） many of the same traditional milestones of a successful life, including getting married, having children, owning a home, and retiring in their sixties.❷But while young and old mostly agree on what constitutes the finish line of a fulfilling life, they offer strikingly different paths for reaching it.
❶Young people who are still getting started in life were more likely than older adults to prioritize personal fulfillment in their work, to believe they will advance their careers most by regularly changing jobs, to favor communities with more public services and a faster pace of life, to agree that couples should be financially secure before getting married or having children, and （37） to maintain that children are best served by two parents working outside the home, the survey found.
❶From career to community and family, these contrasts suggest that in the aftermath of the searing Great Recession, those just starting out in life are defining priorities and expectations that will increasingly spread through virtually all Aspects of American life, from consumer preferences to housing patterns to politics.
❶Young and old converge on one key point: Overwhelming (39) majorities of both groups said they believe it is harder for young people today to get started in life than it was for earlier generations.❷While younger people are somewhat more optimistic than their elders about the prospects for those starting out today, big majorities in both groups believe those "just getting started in life" face a tougher climb than earlier generations in reaching such signpost achievements as securing a good-paying job, starting a family, managing debt, and finding affordable housing.
❶Pete Schneider considers the climb tougher today. ❷Schneider, a 27・year・old auto technician from the Chicago suburbs, says he struggled to find a job after graduating from college. ❷Even now that he is working steadily, he said, "I can't afford to pay my monthly mortgage payments on my own, so I have to rent rooms out to people to make that happen/* ❷Looking back, he is struck that his parents could provide (40) a comfortable life for their children even though neither had completed college when he was young.❺"I still grew up in an upper middle-class home with parents who didn't have college degrees,Schneider said.❻"1 don't think people are capable of that anymore.
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一项最新的民意调查发现，在经济和人 口结构急剧变化的背景下，美国年轻一代正 在绘制一幅崭新的21世纪成功路线图。 许多有关成功人生的相同的传统 标志性事件，包括结婚、生子、购房以及 六十多岁退休等，一直是数代美国人所高度 重视的。虽然年轻一代和老一代对什么才是 美满生活的终点线的看法基本一致，但他们 却提出了截然不同的到达终点线的途径。 调查发现，相较于年纪稍长的成年人， 刚踏上人生征程的年轻人更可能优先考虑工 作中的个人成就感，更可能相信定期更换工 作最能推动自身事业的发展，更可能喜欢 公共服务更多以及生活节奏较快的社区， 更可能赞成夫妻在结婚或生子前应有 经济保障，也更可能坚信父母双亲都外出工 作才能为孩子提供最好的条件。 从事业到社区和家庭，这些差异表明： 在灼热的经济大萧条的余波中，（38）刚踏 上人生旅程的人们正在定义自己的优先事项 和期望，而这些将越来越深入地渗透到 美国人生活的几乎所有方面，从消费者偏好 到居住方式再到政治领域。 年轻一代和老一代在一个关键点 上观点趋于一致：两组人群中的绝大多数人 都认为，相比于前几代，现在的年轻人更难 开启人生旅程。对于那些如今刚开始生活征 程的人的前景，较年轻的人虽然比其年长者 更乐观一些，但两组人群中的大多数人还是 认为，在实现这些标志性成就时，如找到一 份高薪的工作、组建一个家庭、处理债务及 找到可以负担得起的住房，那些“刚踏上人 生旅程”的人比前几代人面临更艰难的攀行。 皮特•施耐德认为现今向上攀升更为艰 难。作为一名来自芝加哥郊区的27岁汽车技 术员，施耐德说自己在大学毕业后好不容易 才找到一份工作。虽然现在工作稳定，他说 道，“我还是无法独立付清每月的房屋贷款， 因此，我只能将房间租给别人来确保还贷。” 回顾过去，他突然发现，在他小时候， 即使他的父母都没有上大学，却依然能为孩子 们提供舒适的生活。“虽然我的父母并没有大 学学历，但是我仍然在一个上层中产阶级家庭 中长大了，”施耐德说。“我认为现在的人们 再也不能做到那样了。” 芒七