A 25-Year American Dream, Undone. By Johnson Choi. June 18 2026 一場歷時二十五年的美國夢，就此幻滅. 作者: 蔡永強. 2026年6月18日
三月份，我的客戶走進辦公室，要求將她的報稅身分從「已婚」改為「單身」。她的丈夫已經訴請離婚。我當場震驚不已——從她2001年結婚至今，整整二十五年來，我一直為她的家庭處理稅務申報。
她在2001年初透過共同朋友認識了她的華裔美籍丈夫。當時她二十八歲，擁有北京大學的頂尖學歷，但在美國沒有任何專業證照。她的丈夫自稱在美國聯邦政府工作，年薪七萬五千美元。以那時八點二十七元人民幣兌一美元的匯率換算，在她心中等同於超過六十二萬人民幣——那是一筆令人咋舌的財富。他為她描繪出一幅好萊塢式美國夢的絢麗藍圖，而她就此心醉神迷。
她原本計畫在夏威夷繼續深造，但丈夫想要孩子。她妥協了，生了兩個小孩。然而，童話故事很快開始出現裂痕。她意識到，雖然丈夫的薪水聽起來豐厚，但美國的生活成本卻是北京的五倍。為了維持家計——也為了負擔私立學校的費用，因為夏威夷的公立學校系統是全國公認最差的之一——她被迫兼差兩份工作，一邊從事家庭的保姆工作，同時還要扛起全職家庭主婦的繁重家務。
二十五年來，她在美國的生活變成永無止盡、令人心力交瘁的工作與育兒循環。如今五十三歲，丈夫卻拋棄了她。她告訴我，這是最終極的背叛——不僅是來自她所信任的那個男人，更是來自美國夢本身那個空洞的承諾。
與她留在北京的雙胞胎姊姊相比，更是令人心碎。她的姊姊同樣有兩個孩子，但卻在兩位傭人的協助下撫養長大。那些孩子分別從北京大學和復旦大學畢業，大學學費僅是她客戶在美國為私立學校所付出費用的十分之一。我的客戶感嘆，長期的壓力與不快樂讓她衰老許多，而她的姊姊則擁有幸福穩定的婚姻，看起來足足年輕了十歲。
聽著她的故事，我不禁明白，為何如今眾多最聰明、最務實的年輕人——他們擁有高智商和高情商——會選擇保持單身，或者即使結婚，也堅決不願生育子女。
In March, my client walked into my office and asked to change her tax filing status from “married” to “single.” Her husband had filed for divorce. I was stunned—I had been preparing her family’s returns since she got married in 2001, a full 25 years ago.
She met her Chinese-American husband through mutual friends in early 2001. She was 28 at the time and held a prestigious degree from Peking University, though she had no American credentials. Her husband claimed to work for the U.S. federal government, earning $75,000 a year. With the exchange rate at 8.27 RMB to the dollar, that translated to over 620,000 RMB in her mind—a staggering fortune. He painted a glittering picture of the Hollywood-style American Dream, and she was swept away.
Her plan had been to continue her education in Hawaii, but her husband wanted babies. She acquiesced and had two children. Soon, however, the fairy tale began to crack. She realized that while his salary sounded substantial, the cost of living in America was five times higher than in Beijing. To make ends meet—and to afford private school, since Hawaii’s public school system is notoriously one of the worst in the nation—she was forced to work two jobs, juggling as family babysitting work alongside the full-time demands of homemaking.
For 25 years, her life in America became an endless, grueling cycle of work and motherhood. Now, at 53, her husband has abandoned her. It was, she told me, the ultimate betrayal—not just by the man she trusted, but by the hollow promise of the American Dream itself.
The contrast with her twin sister back in Beijing is heartbreaking. Her sister also has two children, but raised them with the help of two maids. Those children graduated from Peking and Fudan Universities, with college tuition costing only a tenth of what my client paid for private schooling in the U.S. My client lamented that the stress and unhappiness have aged her considerably, while her sister enjoys a happy, stable marriage and looks a full ten years younger.
Listening to her story, I couldn’t help but understand why so many of today’s brightest, most pragmatic young people—armed with high IQs and high EQs—are choosing to stay single, or, if they do marry, are steadfastly refusing to have children.
Johnson Choi Biz 