Families and work

家庭和工作

Having it all

兼而有之

The gender gap that still needs to be closed

性别鸿沟仍待跨越

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

让兼顾家庭和工作变得简单对男对女都是好事

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.

他们“做着同样的工作，没有免于任何规定和职责，他们中的大多数还有父亲、母亲、姐妹或者兄弟要养，为什么女性就不能获得和男性一样的工资呢？”1905年，倡导男女同工同酬的妇女参政权论人士以传单的形式向纽约公立学校的女教师发出了这样的疑问。彼时，男教师的起薪是900美元每年，而女教师则是600美元每年。

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.

在大多数发达国家，这种赤裸裸的歧视由来已久。为同一个雇主打工、做着同样工作的女员工拿着98美分的报酬，而男员工却有100美元。时至今日，这种性别差异下的薪酬差异仍然存在。在由多数发达国家组成的经济合作与发展组织（OECD）中，女性的平均全职工作薪酬大约是男性的85％。

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.

女性赚得比男性少，因为两性的职业生涯从两个角度看迥然有别（详见本报第58页）。像教师和护理这类很多女性倾向选择的工作相比很多男性的选择来说，利润更低。而且女性在母亲这个角色上会花费很大的代价，她们往往因为休产假而丧失第一次职场晋升的机会，再往后则会从事要求更低、前途更窄的工作。有时候，这些女性的资历会超出她们的职场新身份，但是总得有人去学校接孩子吧。

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.

政府并不需要告诉年轻人应该追求什么职业，同样的，告诉家长应该如何分配各自的家庭责任也不属于政府的分内事。但是女性技能没有被充分利用，无论对于女性个人还是社会来说都是浪费。如果男女夫妻最后分道扬镳了，这种浪费的后果尤其惨痛。

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.

职场男女的所需所想相比他们最后的职场现状来说，要相似得多。女性和男性一样心怀抱负。她们要比男性更有可能进入大学学习，也同样渴望职业晋升。而且，很多年轻男性和他们的父辈不一样，不太可能只把自己看作单纯的养家糊口的人，很多男性希望自己在养育小孩中发挥大作用。

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.

帮助两性实现各自的职业抱负并不仅仅是通过一份同工同酬的法案那么简单。不过好在这并不需要对职场母亲动用社会工程或者施予某种高价的特殊待遇，比如停招员工，或者优先提拔年轻女性。

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，需要设计精良的育婴假。在美国这样唯一一个对新晋母亲没有提供这种福利的发达国家，很多女性会选择离开职场。除非像挪威、瑞典一样，对新晋父亲也提供陪产假，否则夫妻间往往是原本已经产后休养的妻子选择继续留在家中－如果丈夫年龄更长、职位更高、薪资更好，更是如此。这种看起来微不足道、合乎常理的决定设定了男女的余生模式。

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，需要高质量的学前教育。在校和离校假期的日程都应该适应职场父母的时间，而且还需要额外的课外和假期活动（但不是像瑞士那样放孩子们回家吃午饭的愚蠢规定）。

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.

施行这些政策需要花钱，但是它们会带来高回报。陪产假已经证实了可以让父亲更融入自己孩子的养育过程，帮助孩子们更好地成长。早教也会让学步幼儿在学校里表现更佳。而没有因为生育而脱离职场轨道的母亲也会在今后纳税更多，她们年老或离婚时需要国家资助的可能性也更低。

Balancing act

权衡利弊

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.

就算雇主为自己着想，也不应该将暂离岗位的母亲拒之门外，职场中断即意味着缺乏职业理想的臆断已经过时了。重要的是，老板们给所有员工更多灵活性，受益的其实是自己。当员工有权利提出请求时，其实男性相比女性更有可能被拒绝。但是只要男性可以平衡家庭和工作，女性也一定可以。