Womenomics女性經濟美國女性為何走不出廚房？

Womenomics女性經濟

How American women got stuck in the kitchen

美國女性為何走不出廚房？

The IMF』s latest World Economic Outlook shows the cost of having no federal paid leave programme

國際貨幣基金組織（IMF）最新的《世界經濟展望》報告點明了美國不施行聯邦帶薪假期體制的成本

Democracy in America

Apr 13th 2018 by M.S.R. | WASHINGTON, DC

IN 1986, 「American Women in Transition」, a study by the Russell Sage Foundation, described the vast changes then afoot in American society. Some twenty years previously, it says, in what sometimes reads as old-fashioned language, few mothers had jobs; by the early 1980s 「three fifths of wives with school-age children were working outside the home」. This extraordinary change was reflected in the popular culture of the 1980s, from movies like 「Working Girl」 and 「9 to 5」 to books like Helen Gurley Brown』s 「Having it all」.

1986年，拉塞爾.塞奇基金會的研究報告《轉型中的美國女性》（American Women in Transition）描述了當時美國社會正經歷的巨大變化。該研究以一種讀起來似乎過時的語言稱：此前二十年左右沒幾位做媽媽的出去工作；而到了20世紀80年代早期，「五分之三有學齡子女的人妻都會出去工作」。這種巨變也體現在了美國80年代的流行文化中，從電影《上班女郎》（Working Girl）、《朝九晚五》（9 to 5）到諸如海倫.古利.布朗的《擁有一切》（Having it all）書籍等等，都是如此。

Back then, America led most of the rich world in terms of the proportion of women who worked. In 1985, 70% of American women aged between 25 and 54 were in the labour market (either in work or looking for it). That compared with 57% in Australia and 59% in Germany. But the IMF』s latest World Economic Outlook, published this week, shows how these countries have caught up with America and overtaken it. While the proportion of 「prime age」 women in the labour market in the United States is now 74%, in Australia it is 76% and in Germany it is 83%.

彼時，美國在職場女性比例這一領域是發達國家中的排頭兵。1985年，年齡介於25-54歲之間的美國女性有70%身處職場（在職或謀職）；這一比例相較於澳大利亞是57%、德國是59%。但是根據發佈於本周的IMF最新一期《世界經濟展望》報告，這些國家已經趕上乃至超越了美國：如今美國「適齡女性」身處職場的比例是74%，而澳大利亞是76%、德國83%。

It is not surprising that the rate at which American women entered the labour market slowed (it hit a peak in 2000). The last three decades of the twentieth century saw dramatic changes as American women surged into the organised jobs market. Since then, other countries have been catching up. Not all women need or want to work; Sweden, which had a higher proportion of working women than America in 1985, has around the same proportion now as it did then. But it seems unlikely that the proportion of women in America who want to work has settled at a rate below that of other countries.

其實美國女性職場比率的放緩在意料之內（它在2000年衝到了頂峰）。20世紀的後三十年見證了隨著美國女性湧入有序就業市場而來的巨大變革。自此，其它國家一直在奮起直追。但是並非所有女性都需要或者想要工作。比如在1985年職場女性比例高於美國的瑞典，如今的情況和當年相差無幾。但似乎美國女性中想要工作的比例不可能低於其它國家。

Rather, America seems to have fallen behind because it has failed to introduce policies that make it easier for women to stay in work after they have had children. In its report the IMF says that the 「striking difference」 between women in European countries and America 「can be attributed to the more supportive policy changes in Europe.」 Its authors single out two policy areas in particular: access to affordable care for both young children and old people and paid parental leave.

確切來說，美國落伍的原因似乎在政策層面：它沒有施行相關政策讓職場女性生育後繼續工作的處境更為輕鬆。IMF在其報告中指出：歐洲國家和美國女性之間的「驚人差距」「可以歸因於歐洲推行了更多的支持性政策。」報告作者突出了兩大政策：針對兒童和老年的平價醫療、帶薪育嬰假。

The difference on paid leave is especially stark. European countries have introduced and expanded laws that require companies to give parents paid time off after the birth or adoption of a child. Employers in the EU must offer a minimum paid maternity leave of 14 weeks; many countries mandate for more than that and also provide paternity leave, thus reducing companies』 reluctance to employ women of childbearing age. America has remained almost the only developed country to have no national paid parental leave at all.

帶薪假期上的差距尤其顯著。歐洲國家推行並且擴充相關法律，要求公司為新生兒或新領養幼子的父母提供帶薪假期。歐盟國家的僱主必須提供最少為14周的帶薪產假；很多國家的要求不止14周，並且提供陪產假，從而提高公司僱傭育齡女性的意願。美國幾乎是唯一一個完全沒有國家性帶薪育嬰假的發達國家。

The IMF』s report emphasises the role policies like these can play in the health of economies. Big demographic changes in rich countries—fewer babies, more old people— will put greater pressure on those of working age. But it points out that almost everywhere, men aged between 25 and 54 are dropping out of the workforce, a development it attributes in part to automation. The decline is particularly marked in America, where the proportion of men in this age range in the labour market has fallen from 94% in 1985 to 88.5% today. No one knows quite why that has happened; the IMF suggests the country』s unusually high rates of incarcerationas well as the opioid crisiscould play a part. But it makes women』s participation in the workforce particularly important. One study found that America』s GDP would have been 11% smaller in 2012 if the hours worked by women had remained at their 1970s levels.

IMF的報告強調了此類政策對經濟體健康狀況的影響。富裕國家人口結構的大變動（新生人越來越少，老年人越來越多）會給工齡人口帶來更大的壓力。但是報告也指出：幾乎世界各地年齡介於25-54歲的男性都存在退離職場的現象，報告認為這種趨勢的部分原因在於自動化。這種現象在美國特別明顯，上述年齡段男性的職場比例從1985年的94%降至如今的88.5%。沒人能給出此現象的確切原因；IMF認為美國一貫的高入獄率（rates of incarceration）和類鴉片藥物危機（opioid crisis）都在原因之列。但這就凸顯了女性工作參與度的重要性。一項研究發現：如果2012年美國女性的工作時間維持上世紀70年代的水平，該年年度GDP會縮水11%。

When will America catch up with the rest of the industrialised world and introduce national paid leave? Most Americans, both Democratic and Republican, would like it to. So do an increasing number of lawmakers, although conservative congressmen tend to consider the notion of paid leave an anti-business abomination. In 2016, Donald Trump became the first presidential nominee to tout a national paid family leave plan. His daughter Ivanka is now working with Senator Marco Rubio to try to build Republican support for it.

美國什麼時候才能趕上其它發達國家並且推行國家性帶薪假期呢？大多數美國人（民主黨人和共和黨人）都會歡迎這種變化；越來越多的立法者也是如此，儘管美國國會的保守派傾向認為帶薪假期是反商業的，令人憎惡。2016年，唐納德.特朗普成了首位呼籲國家性帶薪育嬰假方案的總統候選人，目前他的女兒伊萬卡（Ivanka）正和參議員Marco Rubio共同嘗試為此構建共和黨支持體系。

關於類鴉片藥物危機的網路鏈接：

1. 類鴉片藥物危機的維基百科介紹：

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic

2. 美國政府簽署正式文件對抗國內類鴉片藥物危機的視頻和相關內容：

https://www.whitehouse.gov/opioids/

本文章辭彙：

womenomics女性經濟／她經濟

incarceration監禁、入獄

opioid類鴉片藥物

abomination: N-COUNT If you say that something is an abomination, you think that it is completely unacceptable. 令人憎惡的事[正式]