Families and work

家庭和工作

Having it all

兼而有之

The gender gap that still needs to be closed

性別鴻溝仍待跨越

Making it easier to combine family and work would help both men and women

讓兼顧家庭和工作變得簡(jiǎn)單對(duì)男對(duì)女都是好事

Oct 7th 2017

THEY “do the same work, are exempt from no rules or duties, and most of them have fathers, mothers, sisters or brothers dependent upon them. Why, then, should women not receive the same salaries?” This question was asked in a circular sent by equal-pay suffragettes to female teachers in New York’s public schoolsin 1905. At the time, teachers’ starting annual salaries were set at $900 formen and $600 for women.

他們“做著同樣的工作矿辽，沒(méi)有免于任何規(guī)定和職責(zé)丹允，他們中的大多數(shù)還有父親、母親袋倔、姐妹或者兄弟要養(yǎng)雕蔽，為什么女性就不能獲得和男性一樣的工資呢？”1905年宾娜，倡導(dǎo)男女同工同酬的婦女參政權(quán)論人士以傳單的形式向紐約公立學(xué)校的女教師發(fā)出了這樣的疑問(wèn)批狐。彼時(shí)，男教師的起薪是900美元每年前塔，而女教師則是600美元每年嚣艇。

In most rich countries such outright discrimination is history. A woman doing the same job for the same employer earns 98 cents to the dollar paid to a man. Yet the gender pay gap persists. In the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, the median full-time wage for women is 85% of that for men.

在大多數(shù)發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家，這種赤裸裸的歧視由來(lái)已久华弓。為同一個(gè)雇主打工食零、做著同樣工作的女員工拿著98美分的報(bào)酬，而男員工卻有100美元寂屏。時(shí)至今日贰谣，這種性別差異下的薪酬差異仍然存在。在由多數(shù)發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家組成的經(jīng)濟(jì)合作與發(fā)展組織（OECD）中迁霎，女性的平均全職工作薪酬大約是男性的85％冈爹。

Women earn less than men because their careers differ in two ways (see page 58). The occupations that many opt for, such as teaching and nursing, are less lucrative than those chosen by men, perhaps because of the long history of putting less value on women’s work. And women pay a high price for motherhood. They often miss a first promotion because they are on maternity leave. Later they take less demanding jobs with poor prospects. Often they are overqualified for their newrole, but somebody has to pick the kids up from school.

女性賺得比男性少，因?yàn)閮尚缘穆殬I(yè)生涯從兩個(gè)角度看迥然有別（詳見(jiàn)本報(bào)第58頁(yè)）欧引。像教師和護(hù)理這類(lèi)很多女性?xún)A向選擇的工作相比很多男性的選擇來(lái)說(shuō)频伤，利潤(rùn)更低。而且女性在母親這個(gè)角色上會(huì)花費(fèi)很大的代價(jià)芝此，她們往往因?yàn)樾莓a(chǎn)假而喪失第一次職場(chǎng)晉升的機(jī)會(huì)憋肖，再往后則會(huì)從事要求更低因痛、前途更窄的工作。有時(shí)候岸更，這些女性的資歷會(huì)超出她們的職場(chǎng)新身份鸵膏，但是總得有人去學(xué)校接孩子吧。

It is not the place of governments to tell young people what careers to pursue, nor to tell parents how to divide their responsibilities. But the underuse of women’s skills is a waste for individual women and society alike. The consequences are particularly painful if a couple later breaks up.

政府并不需要告訴年輕人應(yīng)該追求什么職業(yè)怎炊，同樣的谭企，告訴家長(zhǎng)應(yīng)該如何分配各自的家庭責(zé)任也不屬于政府的分內(nèi)事。但是女性技能沒(méi)有被充分利用评肆，無(wú)論對(duì)于女性個(gè)人還是社會(huì)來(lái)說(shuō)都是浪費(fèi)债查。如果男女夫妻最后分道揚(yáng)鑣了，這種浪費(fèi)的后果尤其慘痛瓜挽。

The careers men and women want are more similar than the careers they end up in. Women are as ambitious as men. They are more likely than men to go to university, and equally likely to ask for promotion. Young men are much less likely than their fathers to see themselves solely as breadwinners. Many wantto play a big part in their children’s upbringing.

職場(chǎng)男女的所需所想相比他們最后的職場(chǎng)現(xiàn)狀來(lái)說(shuō)盹廷，要相似得多。女性和男性一樣心懷抱負(fù)久橙。她們要比男性更有可能進(jìn)入大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)俄占，也同樣渴望職業(yè)晉升。而且淆衷，很多年輕男性和他們的父輩不一樣缸榄，不太可能只把自己看作單純的養(yǎng)家糊口的人，很多男性希望自己在養(yǎng)育小孩中發(fā)揮大作用祝拯。

Helping both sexes fulfil their aspirations is more complicated than passing an equal-pay law. Fortunately, it does not require social engineering or the sort of costly special treatment for working mothers that put some employers off hiring or promoting young women in the first place.

幫助兩性實(shí)現(xiàn)各自的職業(yè)抱負(fù)并不僅僅是通過(guò)一份同工同酬的法案那么簡(jiǎn)單碰凶。不過(guò)好在這并不需要對(duì)職場(chǎng)母親動(dòng)用社會(huì)工程或者施予某種高價(jià)的特殊待遇，比如停招員工鹿驼，或者優(yōu)先提拔年輕女性欲低。

The first step is well-designed parental leave. In America, the only rich country with no such entitlement for new mothers, many of them drop out of the labour force. Unless some leave is reserved for fathers, as in Norway and Sweden, couples tend to opt for the mother, who has stayed home after the birth, to take all ofit—especially if the father is older, and thus more senior and highly paid. That seemingly small, commonsense decision sets a pattern that can last a lifetime.

第一步，需要設(shè)計(jì)精良的育嬰假。在美國(guó)這樣唯一一個(gè)對(duì)新晉母親沒(méi)有提供這種福利的發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家，很多女性會(huì)選擇離開(kāi)職場(chǎng)彰触。除非像挪威娇澎、瑞典一樣，對(duì)新晉父親也提供陪產(chǎn)假，否則夫妻間往往是原本已經(jīng)產(chǎn)后休養(yǎng)的妻子選擇繼續(xù)留在家中－如果丈夫年齡更長(zhǎng)、職位更高、薪資更好闰非，更是如此。這種看起來(lái)微不足道峭范、合乎常理的決定設(shè)定了男女的余生模式财松。

Next comes high-quality pre-school care. Then the school day and the timing of school holidays should be adapted to suit working parents and extended with after-school and holiday activities (no silly rules such as sending childrenhome for lunch, as in Switzerland).

第二步，需要高質(zhì)量的學(xué)前教育。在校和離校假期的日程都應(yīng)該適應(yīng)職場(chǎng)父母的時(shí)間辆毡，而且還需要額外的課外和假期活動(dòng)（但不是像瑞士那樣放孩子們回家吃午飯的愚蠢規(guī)定）菜秦。

Many of these policies cost money. But they offer high returns. Paternity leave has been shown to make a father more engaged throughout his children’s upbringing, helping them to thrive. Early-years education sets toddlers up to do well atschool. And women whose careers have not been derailed by motherhood will payhigher taxes later. They will also be less likely to need state support in oldage, or if they divorce.

施行這些政策需要花錢(qián)，但是它們會(huì)帶來(lái)高回報(bào)舶掖。陪產(chǎn)假已經(jīng)證實(shí)了可以讓父親更融入自己孩子的養(yǎng)育過(guò)程球昨，幫助孩子們更好地成長(zhǎng)。早教也會(huì)讓學(xué)步幼兒在學(xué)校里表現(xiàn)更佳眨攘。而沒(méi)有因?yàn)樯撾x職場(chǎng)軌道的母親也會(huì)在今后納稅更多主慰，她們年老或離婚時(shí)需要國(guó)家資助的可能性也更低。

Balancing act

權(quán)衡利弊

For their own sakes, employers should stop writing off mothers who have spent time out of the workforce, on the outdated assumption that a career break signals a lack of ambition. Above all, they would benefit from offering more flexibility to all their employees. Where staff have the right to ask for this, men are rejected more often than women. But only if men can combine family and work will women be able to do so, too.

就算雇主為自己著想鲫售，也不應(yīng)該將暫離崗位的母親拒之門(mén)外共螺，職場(chǎng)中斷即意味著缺乏職業(yè)理想的臆斷已經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)了。重要的是龟虎，老板們給所有員工更多靈活性，受益的其實(shí)是自己沙庐。當(dāng)員工有權(quán)利提出請(qǐng)求時(shí)鲤妥，其實(shí)男性相比女性更有可能被拒絕。但是只要男性可以平衡家庭和工作拱雏，女性也一定可以棉安。