时代周刊:新冠肺炎给托儿行业造成的困境(3)

While the U.S. has taken some steps to help parents in this unprecedented¹ moment,

在这个前所未有的时刻，美国也采取了一些帮助家长们渡过难关的举措，

other countries have taken more aggressive approaches.

相比之下，其他国家采取的措施力度更大。

Italy offered families $650 to offset² babysitting costs.

意大利为该国家庭发放了650美元的资金，用于抵消他们照顾孩子的费用。

Australia is paying to keep 13,000 childcare centers open and allowing working parents to use them for free.

澳大利亚政府不仅出资保障1.3万个托儿中心在疫情期间继续运营，还准许上班族家长免费使用这些机构。

Norway and Denmark permitted elementary schools and day cares to reopen in April.

挪威和丹麦4月份就已准许小学和托儿所重新开放。

Not all of those solutions would work in the U.S.,

其他国家的这些措施放到美国不见得都会奏效，

which is still very much in the grip of the world’s largest COVID-19 outbreak.

鉴于美国目前仍未摆脱COVID-19疫情，还是全球最严重的国家之一。

Without direct coordination³ from the federal government, states are issuing protocols⁴ one by one,

由于没有联邦政府的直接协调，各州发布托儿补贴政策的时间各不相同，

meaning some areas may be without full access to childcare for weeks or months to come.

这就意味着，一些地区可能接下来的数周甚至是数月都无法获取全面的托儿服务。

Some states have allowed day cares to remain open with fewer children,

一些州已经允许日托中心继续开放，条件是减少托管儿童的数量，

while others have permitted facilities to open their doors for the children of essential personnel.

其他州则已准许托儿机构对重要人员的子女继续开放。

Meanwhile, an array of companies are accommodating their employees

与此同时，一些公司也已开始顺应他们的员工，

by allowing them to work from home or shift their schedules to adjust to their families’ new needs.

允许他们在家办公或调整出勤时间，以适应家里托儿安排的变动。

But just a few months into the pandemic,

问题是，疫情爆发才不过两三个月，

there’s already evidence that COVID-19 is making things worse for working parents—and moms in particular.

事实就已表明，疫情对上班族家长——尤其是上班族妈妈——来说简直就是雪上加霜。

Layoffs⁵ have so far been concentrated in female-dominated fields,

截至目前，疫情引发的裁员主要也发生在女性比较集中的领域，

but without childcare, single mothers like Guajardo may struggle to seize new opportunities.

没有了可以依靠的托儿所，瓜哈尔多这样的单身母亲恐怕也很难抓住新的机会。

Married women may suffer too.

已婚女性或许也难逃一劫。

They out-earn their male spouses⁶ just 29% of the time, per the Census⁷ Bureau.

人口普查局的数据显示，她们中间只有29%的人的收入超过了她们的男性配偶。

If families have to choose which parent cuts back on work to stay home with kids while schools are closed,

如果学校停课期间，面临这一困境的家庭必须选一个人牺牲工作，留在家里照顾孩子，

the recession may make some women the more obvious choice.

经济的不景气或许就会让部分女性成为这一问题的首选答案。

In Montana, that’s the decision that Crouch⁸ eventually reached.

蒙大拿州的克劳奇最后就做出了这样的决定。

With her employer reopening but her granddaughters needing care,

她的东家已经复工，但由于孙女儿们需要人照顾，

she felt she had no option but to resign and stay home.

在她看来，除了辞职留在家里，她已经别无选择。

It’s unlikely she’s alone.

面对这一情况的不太可能只有她一人。

1 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

2 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

3 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

4 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

5 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

6 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

7 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

8 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。