子どもの在宅授業で親は借金、学用品や食料品など　米調査

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】新型コロナウイルス感染症（COVID-19）の流行により、在宅で授業を受ける子どもを持つ米国人のうちかなりの割合が、食料品や学用品を支払うために借金をしていることが分かった。個人向け金融情報企業のクレジット・カルマが、18日に公開した調査報告書で明らかにした。（写真は資料写真）
　新型コロナウイルスの被害が世界で最も大きい米国では、夏休みを終えた生徒たちが授業に戻る中、多くの学区で感染を防ぐために少なくとも一部授業をオンラインに移行している。
　クレジット・カルマの報告書によると、少なくとも一部の授業が在宅に切り替わった子どもを持つ１０００世帯以上を対象に７月に実施した調査で、３３％が子どもの在宅学習による追加費用を支払う準備が整っていなかったと感じていることが分かった。
　さらに４分の１の世帯が予想外の費用を支払うのにすでに借金をしており、１２％が年末までに借金をすると予想していることも分かった。
　借金をした世帯のうち３８％が、「教科書、ペン、ノート、学習ソフトウエアまたはノートパソコンやタブレット端末など、普段は学校が提供する物だと当てにしていた学用品」を調えるためだったと回答している。
　同社によると、働く親の回答者のうち３分の２近くが、家にいる子どもたちの世話をするために仕事を犠牲にしなければならず、さらにわずかに多くの割合の働く親たちが、子どもたちの学習支援をするために普段より長時間働かなければならないと答えた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/08/19-16:20）

A significant proportion of Americans whose children are attending classes from home due to COVID-19 are going into debt to pay for food and school supplies, a survey released Tuesday found.
The United States is grappling with the world's worst coronavirus outbreak and many school districts have shifted classes at least partially online to prevent transmission of the coronavirus as students resume their studies following the summer break.
The report from personal finance company Credit Karma found 33 percent of more than 1,000 parents whose children would be at home at least part of the time surveyed in July don't feel financially prepared for extra expenses associated with their children learning at home.
A quarter have already gone into debt to pay for the unexpected costs, while 12 percent say they expect to do so by the end of the year.
Of those who went into debt, 38 percent said it was due to having to provide learning supplies that I typically rely on my kid(s)' school to provide, such as textbooks, pens, notebooks, learning software or laptops/tablets, according to the survey.
Another 32 percent said they had no option other than going into debt to provide school supplies, while 27 percent said they now have to pay for breakfast and lunch for my kid(s), which their school usually provides.
That was despite 67 percent of all survey respondents saying they'd received or expected to get some form of assistance from school districts.
Credit Karma also found almost two-thirds of working parent respondents said they felt they had to compromise their careers to deal with their children who were at home, while a slightly higher proportion reported working longer hours to help their kids with learning.
More than half of single mothers reported feeling unprepared for the added expenses, the most of any group surveyed.
Congress remains deadlocked on providing additional aid to Americans after programs paid for by the $2.2 trillion CARES Act rescue package passed in March expired.
President Donald Trump has called for schools to reopen but Democrats and Republicans in Congress can't reach an agreement on a larger fiscal bill that could include money for education.
For schools and businesses to get the resources they need to safely reopen, for small businesses to keep their doors open and for those that have lost their jobs to continue to provide for their families, Congress must act, US Chamber of Commerce Vice President Neil Bradley said on Tuesday.