crunch¹ on families and couples may be still ahead, a leading Australian charity said Wednesday." width="347" border="0" src="/upimg/091017/4_032944_1.jpg" />
A picture of an unhappy couple. Global markets may be edging toward recovery, but the worst impact of the global financial crunch on families and couples may be still ahead, a leading Australian charity said Wednesday.

Global markets may be edging toward recovery, but the worst impact of the global financial crunch on families and couples may be still ahead, a leading Australian charity said Wednesday.

"The economy, we've been told, is showing 'green shoots'. We've certainly not seen that," Kasy Chambers², executive director of Anglicare Australia, told reporters.

The crisis of the past year is still driving a wedge between couples and families, and could bring higher rates of divorce and breakup in the months ahead as more people lose jobs and come under financial stress, Chambers said, releasing a new report on the impact of the global crisis on families.

"If one member of a couple experiences unemployment in one calendar year, they are 70 percent more likely to experience divorce in the following year," she said.

The report said the financial fallout may continue for almost another year as companies tried and sometimes failed to retain staff. One in three families have already experienced financial distress³ this year, government reports show.

"What we've seen is a real lag," Chambers said. "We've started seeing people we've never before seen in emergency relief services such as those with mortgages, people you wouldn't expect to be coming to us."

澳大利亚一家知名慈善机构于本周三称，全球市场虽出现复苏迹象，但对于家庭和伴侣们来说，全球金融危机所造成的最恶劣影响尚未显现。

澳大利亚安格利福利救济社执行主管凯西•钱伯斯在接受记者采访时说：“据称，经济已出现‘绿色复苏’迹象，不过我们的确还没看见。”

钱伯斯在发布一份有关全球经济危机对家庭影响的最新报告时称，过去一年的经济危机仍在影响着家庭和夫妻关系，随着更多的人失业并陷入经济困境，未来数月内的离婚率和分手率会上升。

她说：“如果夫妻双方中有一人在一年之中失业，那么他们第二年离婚的几率会增加70%。”

报告称，虽然各公司尽力不裁员，但有时仍无法避免，因此金融危机的余波仍将持续近一年。政府报告显示，今年有三分之一的家庭已陷入经济困境。

钱伯斯说：“我们见到的是真正的滞后影响。以前从不需要紧急援助的人也开始来寻求救助了，比如那些需要还贷的人，而这些人以前你是不会想到会来找我们的。”

Vocabulary:

edge: to advance gradually or cautiously（徐徐移动，渐渐移动）

drive a wedge between：to separate or split with or as if with a wedge（打进楔子；破坏关系；例如：The argument drove a wedge between Mike and his father. 这次争吵破坏了迈克和他爸爸之间的关系。）

calendar year：公历年

fallout：effects; results（后果；余波）