时代周刊:美国正在辜负母亲这一群体(4)

"First, there is a wage penalty for motherhood of 4% per child

“首先，妈妈们平均每生一个孩子，就要遭受4%的工资损失，

that cannot be explained by human capital, family structure, family-friendly job characteristics,

而且是用人力资本、家庭结构、对家庭友好的工作的特征，

or differences among women that are stable over time," she wrote.

或是女性之间一直都稳定存在的那些差异都无法解释的损失，”她写道。

"Second, this motherhood penalty is larger among low-wage workers while the top 10% of female workers incur¹ no motherhood wage penalty."

“其次，母亲这一身份带来的工资损失在低工资人群中更为明显，处于女性职场顶端的10%的女性则完全不会面临这一损失。”

Part of the disparity between fathers and mothers may be due to employer discrimination, Budig explained,

父母亲职场待遇的这种差异部分来源于用人单位的歧视，布迪格解释说，

citing research suggesting that companies view dads as more competent and worthy² of promotion³ than moms.

他为此援引的研究表明，企业通常认为，父亲比母亲更有能力，更值得提拔。

"Ideas of what make a ‘good mother,’ a ‘good father,’ and an ‘ideal worker’ matter," she writes.

“人们对‘好妈妈’、‘好爸爸’和‘好员工’的定义也很重要，”她写道。

"If mothers are supposed to focus on caring for children over career ambitions,

“如果社会认为妈妈们就应当把主要精力放在照顾孩子而不是职业抱负上面的话，

they will be suspect on the job and even criticized if viewed as overly focusing on work."

要是其他人觉得她们过于专注于工作，她们在工作中就会受到怀疑，受到批评。”

But modern motherhood is also relentless⁴.

现代社会的妈妈们面临的处境依旧很残酷，很无情。

Not only do mothers in America today continue to spend more time on both childcare and household chores than fathers do,

当今美国的妈妈们不仅在照顾孩子，料理家务方面花的时间依旧都比爸爸们多，

despite men’s increased involvement at home,

尽管男性对家庭的投入已经有所提升，

they also spend more time with their children than they did in the 1970s,

而且，和上个世纪七十年代，也就是庞贝克写妈妈们即便是做着全职工作，还依然要有三头六臂的时候，

when Bombeck wrote that mothers had to have six pairs of hands, even as they worked full-time⁵ jobs.

和那时候的妈妈们相比，现在的妈妈们在孩子身上投入的时间也是有过之而无不及。

Unable to justify⁶ the cost of childcare compared with their wages

工资无法和照顾孩子相比，

or, in the case of a global health crisis, faced with no childcare at all,

又或者，在这场全球性的健康危机的影响下，完全没有了托管的帮助，

women end up being the ones to walk away from work.

许多女性最后都成了各自家中离开工作岗位的那个人。

Previous economic crises in the U.S. have put men out of work, and we’ve bemoaned⁷ the hit to masculinity.

美国以前的经济危机下失业的都是男性，那时候我们还在哀叹经济危机对男性的打击。

This pandemic has hit women, specifically mothers, particularly hard,

被这次疫情打击得尤其严重的却是女性，尤其是妈妈们，

but instead of contemplating⁸ the creativity, discovery and productivity that are lost when women are forced from the workforce⁹,

然而，在女性被逼离职场时，与其考虑因此流失的创造力、发现和生产力，

we expect them to lean in so far, they fall off a cliff.

我们期望的却是她们再向前一步，彻底摔下悬崖。

In the Bombeck column, the angel comments that the mother is too soft.

在庞贝克的专栏文章中，天使评价母亲太过软弱。

"But tough!" God replies.

“但（她们）坚韧！”上帝回答说。

"You can imagine what this mother can do or endure."

“你可以大胆地想象她的潜能和忍受能力。”

How much longer will fables¹⁰ of valor¹¹ be held up as an excuse for using mothers to prop¹² up a failing system?

英勇的寓言被视为利用母亲来维持一个失败的体制的借口，这样的日子还要继续到何时？

Even if women can handle it, or at least appear outwardly to be handling it, does it really have to be this hard?

就算女性能扛下来，或者至少表面上看还能扛下来，难道就一定要让她们的处境如此艰难吗？

How many fathers would find "enduring" to be a satisfying existence?

有多少父亲会觉得“忍受”是一种令人满意的生活状态？

American mothers have been the under-supported cog in the wheel of American capitalism¹³ for too long.

美国的妈妈们充当美国资本主义车轮下的齿轮的时间太长了。

We must now completely reimagine their role and start over.

我们必须现在就彻底重塑她们的角色，然后重新来过。

1 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。

2 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

3 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

4 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

5 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

6 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

7 bemoaned   

v.为（某人或某事）抱怨( bemoan的过去式和过去分词 )；悲悼；为…恸哭；哀叹

参考例句：

• The farmer bemoaned his loss. 农夫抱怨他所受到的损失。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He only bemoaned his fate. 他忍受了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

8 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

9 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

10 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句

11 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。

12 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

13 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。