a few hundred people in Florida broke the state's stay-at-home order

佛羅里達有數百人 不顧政府頒布的"禁令"

to go wait in this line.

在屋外排隊等候。

Hundreds of thousands of people had lost their jobs,

數十萬人丟了工作

and applied for unemployment benefits through Florida's online system.

並希望通過佛羅里達州的線上系統來申請失業救濟金

But the people in this line had come out to get these:

但這些排隊的民眾只得到

paper applications.

紙本申請單

Because for thousands in Florida, the website wasn't working.

因為佛羅里達失業申請過多，該網站已無法正常運行。

"Problems from almost the moment it went online..."

網站似乎從一上線就出現問題了...

"Plagued with site crashes and glitches..."

網站的卡頓和故障真的很令人崩潰...

"The process to file is nearly impossible."

“完成申請幾乎是不可能的。”

Americans have lost their jobs all over the country.

全美國各地都有人失去了工作。

But the kind of help they can get depends on what state they live in.

但是他們可以獲得的幫助 與於他們所居住的州息息相關。

That's because the US doesn't really have one unemployment system; it has 53 of them.

因為美國真的沒有一種統一的失業補助系統；它有53個。

Each state and territory has their own, and the differences between them are huge.

每個州和地區都有自己的失業救濟方案，而且它們之間的差異很大。

In places like New Jersey and Massachusetts, before the economy crashed,

在紐澤西州和馬薩諸塞州等地，

a little more than half of all workers without jobs were collecting unemployment benefits.

在經濟崩潰之前，半數以上沒有工作的工人中是可以領取失業救濟金的

In Florida, less than 10% of unemployed people were getting them.

但在佛羅里達州，只有不到10％的失業者 可以領。

In places like Florida, the complicated, hard-to-use unemployment system

在佛羅里達

isn't a mistake.

複雜且難以使用的失業申請系統不是設計錯誤

It's doing exactly what it was designed to do.

它就是這樣被設計出來的

Back during the Great Recession, lots of people were out of work.

在經濟大蕭條時期很多人失業。

State unemployment systems were in overdrive.

國家失業救濟被過度利用

In many states, the funds that fed those systems were running out of cash

在許多州，救濟金已經入不敷出了

So lots of states, including Florida, raised taxes on businesses.

包括佛羅里達州的許多州開始提高商業稅收

That made lots of business owners unhappy.

這讓許多老闆不高興了

In the 2010 and 2012 elections, several states elected Republican governors

在2010年和2012年的選舉中，

who promised to reverse those tax hikes.

共和黨因提出不增加商業稅收 許多州的州長因此當選了。

"Any tax increase kills jobs."

“任何增加稅收都會導致失業。”

In 2011, when Rick Scott took office,

2011年，里克·斯科特（Rick Scott）上任時，

Florida employers paid $319 per worker in unemployment taxes.

佛羅里達州的雇主為每名工人支付了319美元的失業稅。

By 2019, when he left,

到2019年他下台時，

they were paying $50 per worker.

每個工人只要付50美元失業稅。

The lowest rate in the country.

如此低的稅率

But that meant Florida's system was underfunded again.

意味著佛羅里達的失業補助系統將再次資金不足。

So, the new governor and the Republican legislature started finding ways

因此，新州長和共和黨立法機關開始尋找方法

to pay less money to fewer people.

給更少的人且支付更少的錢

They cut weekly payments,

他們取消了每週付款的方式

and reduced the number of weeks you could collect unemployment if you were laid off.

就算被解僱，可以領取失業救濟金的周數也減少

But they also redesigned the system itself.

並且他們也重新設計了系統

In 2011, Florida governor Rick Scott signed a law

2011年，佛羅里達州州長里克·斯科特（Rick Scott）簽署了一項法律

that moved the state's entire unemployment application process online.

全州的所有失業救濟改為只可以線上申請

The new system was notoriously difficult to use.

眾所周知，新系統很難使用

"No money, and no answers, because of problems with the state's new $63 million unemployment website."

“嶺不到錢，也沒有回音"，是這個新的標榜有6300萬美元的失業網站最大的問題。”

In 2019, Florida's state auditor released a report on the state's unemployment system.

2019年，佛羅里達州審計師發布了該州失業製度的報告。

It noted that it frequently gave incorrect error messages,

報告中指出，網站經常發出錯誤的假消息，

and would often prevent the submission of an application entirely.

並且通常會阻止提交申請。

Honestly, I'm an unemployment insurance expert,

我是失業保險專家

and some of the screenshots I've been seeing don't make any sense to me.

某些屏幕截圖在我看來完全沒有任何意義

I talked to Michele Evermore, an unemployment lawyer and researcher.

我與律師兼研究員米歇爾·埃弗莫爾（Michele Evermore）進行過討論。

It's clear that there is a very intentional movement

很明顯，這是一個故意的設計

to make benefits difficult to access, just by making the computer system difficult.

讓使電腦系統變得困難就使申請人難以獲得補住

First, Florida's unemployment application itself is extremely difficult to complete.

首先，佛羅里達州的失業申請 本身很難完成

Think about the last form you filled out online. You probably started at the top with some

想像一下您在線上填寫的表格。 你可能從頭開始...

basic identifying information, then filled in more boxes as you scrolled down.

基本身分信息，然後向下滾動繼續按指示填寫

But to submit a claim on Florida's unemployment website,

但是在佛羅里達州的失業補助申請網站內

you submit just a few bits of information at a time,

你一次只能填寫一部分的信息

then click to a new page, and hope it's all being saved.

然後提交... 希望一切都被保存下來。

Each time you hit submit, and a new page has to load,

每點擊一次提交時， 新頁面必須重新加載

that's a new opportunity for the system to crash and kick you out.

而這就是一個系統崩潰並把你踢出去機會

Next, if you do get through the process…

如果你幸運的完成了剛剛所有過程……

Some Florida politicians have blamed the system's problems on Deloitte,

佛羅里達政府官員會將認為是德勒公司的系統出問題

the contractor the state used to help build the new online system back in 2013.

2013年網站系統的創建公司

But that same year, Deloitte also helped Massachusetts build its online system.

而在同一年，德勤也幫助了 馬薩諸塞州建立線上系統。

Using the same basic framework,

設計框架基本相同

Massachusetts has been able to get benefits to a much greater percentage of jobless people than Florida.

但與佛羅里達州相比，馬薩諸塞州能夠提供失業者更多補償。

Everybody's trying to blame the computer,

每個人都認為是電腦的問題

but in reality, it's the politics.

但實際上，這是政策

It's not the computer's fault.

不是電腦本身的錯。

The computer does what you tell it to do.

電腦系統是按照你的指示執行操作

In response to the pandemic, Congress gave states more than a billion dollars

為了應對大流行，

to boost unemployment benefits,

國會給各州超過十億美元的失業救濟金

and made gig workers and freelancers eligible for them.

並讓臨時工與自由職業者都可以提出申請

But all workers still have to go through state systems, like Florida's, to get those benefits.

但是所有工人申請仍然必須經過州 系統，包括佛羅里達州，才能得到補助

At some point in their working lives, 4 out of 5 Americans

在他們的工作中，5個美國人中有4個

will need to access safety net programs like unemployment insurance.

將需要通過安全網程序 像失業保險。

But these programs benefit that 1 out of 5, too.

但是這些程序也會使5分之一的人受益。

It keeps money churning in the economy when there's a downturn.

經濟不景氣時它會使錢越發流通

For every dollar spent in unemployment insurance benefits, $1.61 was generated

失業保險金每支出1美元

in local economic activity.

在當地的經濟活動就會產生1.61美元。

It's increasingly clear that our physical health is linked to that of our neighbors.

越來越明顯的是，我們的身體 健康與我們鄰居的健康息息相關。

It turns out, our economic health is, too.

事實證明，我們的經濟狀況也是如此。