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World and Press June 1 2023

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4 USA June 1 2023 | World and Press Single women take an outsize role in the workforce – and the economy GENDER A stubborn wage gap means women have less spending power and wealth. By Abha Bhattarai übungsmaterial zum download • Arbeitsblätter • Unterrichtsvorschläge • Kreuzworträtsel • Cartoon-Interpretationen • Audiodateien www.sprachzeitungen.de 1 MORE WOMENthan ever are single, a new report says – and that has significant implications for the U.S. economy. Single women – who are postponing marriage or forgoing it altogether – are a growing economic force, accounting for a larger share of growth in the job market, homeownership, and college degrees, according to an analysis of federal data. 2 The majority of women in the United States – a record 52 percent – were unmarried in 2021, according to a report released Wednesday by Wells Fargo. Among the factors driving the rapid rise in single-women households over the last decade: A 20 percent increase in the number of women who have never married. 3 But while decades of changing norms around marriage and work have empowered women to carve their own paths, a stubborn wage gap continues to keep many women, especially single mothers, from enjoying the same economic gains as single men and married couples. Never-married women earned just 92 percent of what never-married men did last year and have 29 percent less wealth, Wells Fargo economists found. 4 “The sheer growth of single women is rippling across the economy and leaving a mark on the labor market, wealth, and spending,” said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo and lead author of the report. “The bad news, though, is that the wage gap [between men and women] has remained stuck over the past 15 years. Single women are filling a void in a very tight labor market, but they are still earning less than single men.” 5 Women have made strides in just about every facet of the economy in recent decades. The number of women attending and graduating from college has outpaced men for years, according to government figures. Women are also more likely to buy their own homes, despite lower wages. Nearly 11 million single women owned their homes in 2021, compared with 8 million single men, according to a recent analysis of census data by LendingTree. 6 After Alicia Barnes got a divorce in 2009, it took a decade for her and her young sons to regain their financial footing. Barnes, a Navy veteran in Oakland, Maine, says she was “grossly underpaid” 0 – 2 OUTSIZE überdurchschnittlich groß — workforce Erwerbsbevölkerung — stubborn hartnäckig — implications Konsequenzen — to forgo s.th. auf etw. verzichten — to account for ausmachen — share Anteil — federal bundesweit — to drive antreiben 3 – 4 to empower stärken; ermöglichen — to carve one’s own path seinen eigenen Weg gehen — sheer bloße(r,s) — to ripple across s.th. s. durch etw. hindurchziehen — to leave a mark on s.th. etw. prägen — economist Volkswirt(in) — lead Haupt- — void Lücke — tight angespannt 5 – 8 to make strides Fortschritte machen — to outpace übertreffen — financial footing finanzielle Sicherheit — grossly extrem — to campaign for s. einsetzen für — to make six figures ein sechsstelliges Gehalt verdienen — benefits Zusatzleistungen — 401(k) match vom Arbeitgeber zugezahlter Anteil an der privaten Altersvorsorge — to helm a household e-m Haushalt vorstehen 9 – 11 to thrive erfolgreich sein — liberating befreiend — prevalent vorherrschend — to out-earn s.o. das Gehalt e-s anderen übertreffen — median net worth mittleres Vermögen — Federal Reserve US-Notenbank — discrepancies Unterschiede — percentage point Prozentpunkt — labor force participation rate Erwerbsquote — spending power Kaufkraft | Infographic: Statista for years, making ,000 a year as an advertising analyst in an industry where the average annual pay is well over ,000, according to ZipRecruiter. 7 Now Barnes, 48, works as a digital strategist on a political action committee that campaigns for health care reform, where she makes nearly six figures and has good benefits, including a robust 401(k) match. She recently bought a 6,000 house for herself and her sons, now 18 and 22. “This is the first time I’ve had employment that pays me what I’m really worth,” Barnes said. 8 Women are also more likely to live alone than in the past – whether they own or rent. Households helmed by single women now make up 26 percent of U.S. households. 9 Growing up, Rebecca Lundberg figured she would be mar- Faith replaced by devotion to dollar SOCIETY mit Übungen | Sprechen By David Charter 1 PATRIOTISM is losing importance for Americans along with other traditional values such as religious faith, according to a survey. Attitudes once cornerstones of the American character appear to be shifting, with big declines in the importance ried by now. But at 31, she says she is happily single – and thriving. She makes ,000 a year at her Washington, D.C., marketing job and has been renting her own place for five years. “We’re one of the first generations that’s not really worried about getting married in our 20s and 30s, even our 40s, because we have the means and opportunities to live our own lives,” she said. “Being in charge of my own personal and financial decisions and having my independence is very liberating for me.” … 10 Marriage has long been the most prevalent household arrangement for women and has often served as a vehicle for higher earnings and wealth. While single men out-earn single women, married couples had nearly four times the median net worth of single people in 2019, according of having children, engaging in community life, and working hard. The only priority that has grown in significance over the past quarter century is money, to the Federal Reserve. Economists say those discrepancies are particularly concerning as more people put off marriage for longer periods of time. The median age of first-time marriage for women has steadily risen, from 25 in 2001 to 28 in 2021. 11 Single women – whether divorced, separated, or never married – are more likely to be working than married women. The share of never-married women who are working or looking for work has risen nearly two percentage points in the past decade, even as the overall labor force participation rate has declined. But their lower wages mean they have less spending power. Single women spent an average of ,000 in 2021, compared with ,000 for single men. … © 2023 The Washington Post | Photo: Kenny Eliason/Unsplash cited as “very important” by 43 per cent of those questioned in a poll for ‘The Wall Street Journal’. This was up from 31 per cent in its previous survey in 1998. The →

World and Press | June 1 2023 USA 5 ‘I’ll call an Uber or 911’ Gen Z members have more non-driving options available to them, like e-scooters and online entertainment. | Photo: Westend61/Getty Images YOUNG PEOPLE Members of Generation Z are getting their driver’s licenses at lower rates than their predecessors. mit Übungsmaterial By Shannon Osaka 1 WHEN Madison Corr was 18 years old and in her first year of college, she started the process of getting a driver’s license. Corr, who was living in New York at the time, got an adult learner’s permit, did drug and alcohol training, put in 10 to 15 hours behind the wheel, and attended driver’s ed classes. But when it came time to schedule a road test to get her license, she simply … didn’t. “I just felt like I didn’t need it,” she said. Now 24, she lives in Philadelphia and still doesn’t have a license. “My parents put a lot of pressure on me to get one,” she → poll was conducted with the National Opinion Research Centre at the University of Chicago. 2 “Having children and other priorities that helped define the national character for generations are receding in importance to Americans,” the newspaper said. Only 23 per cent of adults younger than 30 believed that having children was very important. 3 Just 38 per cent of respondents said patriotism was very important, down from 70 per cent in said. “But I haven’t needed one to this point. If there’s an emergency, I’ll call an Uber or 911.” 2 Gabe Balog, 23, waited to get his license until he was 20 and didn’t get a car until two years later. “I didn’t want my parents teaching me,” he said. But he also felt ambivalence toward America’s car-centric culture, only getting a car because his job as a peer mental health worker required one. “It would be so much better for everyone if public transport were just more accessible.” 3 Balog and Corr reflect a growing trend among Generation Z, loosely defined as people born between the years of 1996 and 1998. The term “patriot” has been taken over by Donald Trump supporters. Emails soliciting donations for his funding committee end with the exhortation for “real patriots”. The importance of religion is also in clear decline, with just 39 per cent saying it is very important to them, compared with 62 per cent a generation ago. © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. 0 – 3 DEVOTION Hingabe; Verehrung Gottes — cornerstone Grundpfeiler — to shift s. wandeln — to engage in aktiv gestalten; teilnehmen an — to cite angeben — poll Umfrage — to recede schwinden — respondent Befragte(r) — to solicit erbitten — exhortation Aufruf 2012. Equipped with ride-sharing apps and social media, “zoomers,” as they are sometimes called, are getting their driver’s licenses at lower rates than their predecessors. Unlike previous generations, they don’t see cars as a ticket to freedom or a crucial life milestone. The question – for American drivers and for the planet – is whether that trend will last. 4 In 1997, 43 percent of 16-yearolds and 62 percent of 17-yearolds had driver’s licenses. In 2020, those numbers had fallen to 25 percent and 45 percent. “Anecdotally, we’re hearing that younger people aren’t driving or getting their licenses as quickly as in the past,” said Mark Friedlander, the director of communications at the Insurance Information Institute. 5 The trend is most pronounced for teens, but even older members of Gen Z are lagging behind their millennial counterparts. In 1997, almost 90 percent of 20- to 25-year-olds had licenses; in 2020, it was only 80 percent. 6 Gen Zers point to many reasons they are turning their backs | Infographic: Statista 0 – 3 911 Notruf in den USA — driver’s license Führerschein — predecessor Vorgänger(in) — learner’s permit Lernführerschein — driver’s ed classes Theorieunterricht — ambivalence Zwiespältigkeit — peer mental health worker Peer-Berater(in) für Menschen mit psychischer Erkankung — loosely defined grob definiert 4 – 7 anecdotally auf Einzelberichten beruhend — Insurance Information Institute US-Versicherungsverband — pronounced ausgeprägt — to lag behind s.o. hinter jdm. zurückliegen — counterpart Pendant — to on cars: anxiety, finances, environmental concern. Many members of Gen Z say they haven’t gotten licensed because they’re afraid of getting into accidents – or of driving itself. Madison Morgan, a 23-year-old from Kennewick, Wash., had multiple high school classmates pass away in driving accidents. Those memories loomed over her whenever she was behind the wheel. “When I was learning with my parents, a lot of times I would end up crying because I was so stressed out,” she said. After failing the driving test twice, she decided to take a break until she felt more confident. She now lives in Seattle and takes public transportation or the occasional Uber or Lyft. 7 Others point to driving’s high cost. Car insurance has skyrocketed in price in recent years, increasing nearly 14 percent between 2022 and 2023. (The average American now spends around three percent of their yearly income on car insurance.) Used and new car prices have also soared in the last few years, thanks to a combination of supply chain disruptions and high inflation. 8 And members of Gen Z, according to one Pew poll, are more likely to talk about the need for climate action than members of previous generations. Louisa Sholar, a 24-year-old graduate student at Georgetown University, has a license but has stayed car-free due to the high cost of insurance and the availability of public transit in Washington, D.C. “I’m in favor of having more public transport for environmental reasons,” she said. “I’m quite conscious of my footprint.” 9 E-scooters, e-bikes, and ridesharing also provide Gen Zers options that weren’t available to earlier generations. (Half of ride-sharing users are between the ages of 18 and 29, according to a poll from 2019.) And Gen Zers have the ability to do things online – hang out with friends, take classes, play games – which used to be available only in person. “Their thumbs have become much more mobile than their legs,” said Ming Zhang, a professor of regional planning at the University of Texas at Austin. 10 Whether this shift will last depends on whether Gen Z is acting out of inherent preferences or simply postponing key life milestones that often spur car purchases. Getting married, having children, or moving out of urban centers are all changes that encourage (or, depending on your view of the U.S. public transit system, force) people to drive more. 11 Those phases “are consistently getting later,” said Noreen McDonald, a professor of urban planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gen Zers are more likely to live at home for longer, more likely to pursue higher education, and less likely to get married in their 20s. … © 2023 The Washington Post turn one’s back on s.th. s. von etw. abwenden — to pass away sterben — to loom over s.o. (fig) drohend über jdm. hängen — car insurance Autoversicherung — to skyrocket; s.w.u. to soar sprunghaft ansteigen — supply chain disruption Lieferkettenprobleme 8 – 11 poll Umfrage — conscious bewusst — regional planning Raumordnung — shift Wandel — inherent innewohnend — to spur antreiben — consistently stetig — urban planning Stadtplanung — to pursue verfolgen

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