Poverty, Plunging

原文地址：Poverty, Plunging

Child poverty in the U.S. has fallen by more than half since the early 1990s.

• Child poverty: 儿童贫困率
• An unequaled decline: 无与伦比的下降

When President Bill Clinton signed a bipartisan bill tightening the rules around welfare eligibility in 1996 — and making many benefits conditional on work — critics on the political left predicted terrible effects.

• bipartisan: 两党
• welfare: 福利

Wages will go down, families will fracture and millions of children will be made more miserable than ever.

• be made more miserable than ever: 比以往任何时候都更加痛苦

The 1996 welfare law turned out to be a case study of different political ideologies combining to produce a result that was better than either side would likely have produced on its own.

• ideologies: 意识形态

Poor single mothers (the main beneficiaries of welfare) were better able to find and hold jobs than many liberals expected.

• the main beneficiaries: 主要收益者

We worry that we come off as blasé or Pollyannaish when we report good news.

• come off as blase: 变得无聊
• Pollyannaish: 花粉症 / 不切实际的乐观

Still, I understand why many people are reluctant to focus on the poverty decline.

• reluctant: 不情愿的

Despite these caveats, the decline in poverty deserves to be a major news story.

caveats: 警告