VOA双语新闻：美国越来越多的人有偿照顾自家老人

　　Millions of Americans are looking after an older family member. A survey a few years ago put the value of family care-giving at $375 billion a year. And while care-giving has traditionally been something family members do for their elders, a growing minority of these caregivers is actually paid to do the job.

在美国，数百万家庭里会有一位老人需要照顾。几年前的一个调查把家庭对老人照顾一年的价值估计为3750亿美元。传统上，家人照顾老人是天经地义的事情，但是现在，有越来越多的人做这件事会得到酬劳。

Since the economic downturn began, elder law attorneys 1 across the country have been drawing up more contracts that deal with how to care for mom or dad, and get compensated 2 for it.

从经济衰退开始起，美国各地的老龄法律师们起草了更多关于如何照顾父母而且得到酬劳的合同。

Paying for family care

David Fowler and his wife, Gloria, take care of his 94-year-old mother Mary Ruth, a retired 3 teacher. She was widowed in the 1960s and lived on her own until a few years ago. But when her eyesight started failing, they moved her from Indianapolis into their home in Ogallala, Nebraska.

戴维·福勒和妻子一起照顾94岁的老母亲玛丽·鲁斯。玛丽是位退休教师，从1960年代开始守寡，直到几年前还独立生活。当玛丽的视力开始衰退时，儿子和儿媳妇把她从印第安纳州接到了他们位于内布拉斯加州的家中。

Mary Ruth is blind now but she’s still pretty self-sufficient. She climbs the stairs and dresses herself, although David and Gloria lay out her clothes. She’s started showing signs of dementia, so they make sure she takes her medication as directed.

玛丽现在已经双目失明，但仍然行动自如。她能够自己爬楼梯，自己穿衣服，当然，戴维和妻子格洛利亚需要帮她把衣服准备好。玛丽开始显现出老年痴呆的症状，因此戴维和妻子把药送到她房间去，确保按时服药。

David says it’s a joy to care for his mom and he’d do it for free, but he doesn’t. Mary Ruth pays her son $1,000 a month as part of an agreement that was initially 4 his brother’s idea.

戴维说，照顾母亲对他来说是一件开心的事情，他愿意无偿地做这件事情，但事实上他是有偿的。根据哥哥的建议，母亲每个月付给戴维1000美元作为照顾费。

"At first we were kind of uncomfortable with what he was talking about because…..I don’t want to make a profit off of my mother," says David. "That’s just not in our way of thinking."

他说：“一开始哥哥的建议让我们觉得很不舒服，因为我不想赚母亲的钱，这不是我们想要的。”

But the money is welcome. David will soon turn 70. He and Gloria both work part-time. For years they owned a photo studio in town and put everything they made back into the business.

但是没有人会拒绝钱。戴维自己也年近70了，他和妻子都有一份兼职工作。他们经营一家照相馆多年，不断把赚的钱再投进去。

"Well, as it turned out digital really killed the small mom-and-pop portrait studio and our business was worth maybe half of what we had anticipated when we sold it," says David.

戴维说：“照相进入数码时代后，我们这个夫妻小店几乎没有了生路。照相馆在出售的时候只有我们原来预期价值的一半而已。”

Everyone in the family is happy with the payment arrangement. Nothing was put in writing. But elder law attorneys say families should draw up a formal personal care contract.

家中所有人对这个薪酬协议都很满意，尽管他们没有任何书面的东西。但是老龄法律师建议，这样的家庭应该签署一份正式的个人照看合同。

Protective measure

Lawyer Howard Krooks says it’s a way to protect the older person. There may come a time when they have to go into a nursing home, have very little money left, and should qualify 5 for Medicaid, the government’s medical assistance program for poor Americans. But there’s a catch.

律师霍华德·克鲁克斯指出，签署正式合同是为了保护老年人。将来可能有一天，老人需要住到养老院去，那时他们的钱所剩不多，符合条件申请政府为穷人提供的医疗福利计划--Medicaid。但问题出来了。

"The monies you paid to the family caregiver absent an agreement in writing will be deemed 6 to have been gifted by you to the family caregiver," says Krooks, "causing a period of delay wherein which you will not qualify for the Medicaid benefit."

克鲁克斯说：“如果老人付给家人的照顾费用没有一个正式协议书，那些钱会被当作是送给家人的礼物，这就会产生一段空档期，导致老人不够资格申请医疗福利计划。”

In other words, Medicaid may not pay for care for months - or even years - because it considers dollars given to a family member to be money that could have been saved to pay for nursing care. But if both parties sign a contract before the family caregiver starts the job, Medicaid accepts that as an employment agreement.

也就是说，由于医疗福利计划会认为老人给家人的钱本应存下来支付养老服务，因此可能几个月、甚至几年都不支付照顾老人的费用。但是如果家庭成员双方能够事先签一份协议，医疗福利计划就能够把它作为雇佣协议予以接受。

Growing business

Krooks says his business in this area has doubled in the last several years. Other elder care lawyers say the same. Why are more families turning a personal relationship into a business arrangement? Krooks points to the recession 7. Some of his clients are adult children who were laid off and can’t find new jobs.

克鲁克斯律师说，过去几年来，他的律师事务所在这方面的生意翻了一番。为什么越来越多的家庭把个人的照看关系转变成为一种商业安排呢？克鲁克斯认为这是因为经济衰退。克鲁克斯律师有一些客户是失业后找不到新工作的成年人。

"They find themselves in a position of care-giving and there’s a way to really satisfy two needs: the need of the parent for the care - and the parent would have to spend a whole lot more money to hire a third party to provide similar level of services - and the need of the child to be able to earn one’s keep."

他说：“他们最后做起了照顾老人的工作，这满足了双方的需求：父母需要照顾，他们如果雇别人来提供同等水平的照顾服务，就需要花多得多的钱；而孩子也需要自己挣钱。”

He expects the number of paid family members to keep rising even as the economy recovers, because the need for care-giving is growing as America’s population ages.

克鲁克斯律师预计，即使经济复苏，也会有越来越多的老年父母付钱给孩子照顾自己，因为美国老年人口不断增加，对看护的需求也会相应增加。

Of course, money is famous for causing family feuds 8. Krooks has seen arrangements fall apart because one relative hated the idea.

当然，钱也会导致家庭成员反目。克鲁克斯律师看到过因为一个家庭成员讨厌这种想法而导致协议破裂的案例。

"They were frankly 9 looking to have another family member provide the services in an unpaid 10 manner," he says, "so that more money could be left in the estate and hopefully when the parent died, they would get more money."

他说：“事实上，他们希望其它家庭成员能够免费提供照顾服务，这样老人就有更多的钱留下来，一旦父母过世，他们就能分更多的钱。”

That’s not a problem in the Fowler family. For one thing, there’s not much of an estate to leave. For another, everyone gets along - even if David does tease 11 his mother about the family hierarchy 12.

不过，对戴维的家人来说，这根本不是一个问题。首先，老母亲玛丽没有多少遗产可以留下来；其次，一家人相处得很融洽。

"You always loved me best," he tells her.

Mary Ruth answers with a laugh. "That’s what all three of you say. But there’s no good, better or best in this family. They’re all best. At least to me."

他们就这样每天过着平淡的日子，彼此开开玩笑，一起品尝美酒，享受着天伦之乐。