Finance and Economics
財經版塊
Free exchange
自由交換
The "greedy jobs" gap
“貪婪的工作”導致的差距
Mothers' careers suffer when parents maximise their combined income, says a new book.
一本新書稱,當父母讓合并收入最大化時,母親的事業受損。
Radical and liberal feminists, as defined by philosophers, differ on the extent to which women's freely made choices matter.
按照哲學家的定義,激進派和自由派的女權主義者在有關女性自由選擇的重要程度上有所差異。
A liberal feminist desires maximum autonomy for women, demanding equal rights and an end to sex discrimination.
自由派女權主義者希望女性享有最大程度的自主權,要求權利平等,終結性別歧視。
A radical feminist sees in society patriarchal forces that are bigger than any one person, and which oppress women in part by influencing their choices.
激進派女權主義者認為,社會中父權的力量最大,并在某種程度上通過影響女性的選擇來壓迫女性。
Economic differences between the sexes—such as the gender pay gap—are always a sign of injustice.
兩性之間的經濟差距,比如性別收入差距是非常不公平的表現。
A new book by Claudia Goldin of Harvard University, an expert on women and work, is a study both of American women's choices and of the context in which they are made.
哈佛大學克勞迪婭·戈爾丁是女性與工作方面的專家,她的新書既研究了美國女性的選擇,也研究了她們做出選擇的背景。
"Career and Family: Women's Century-Long Journey Toward Equity" traces the history of work and family for college-educated women, and diagnoses what still troubles their careers today.
《職業與家庭:女性邁向平等的世紀歷程》追溯了受過大學教育的女性的工作史和家庭史,并分析了至今仍困擾她們職業生涯的因素。
A caricature of history might involve a journey from home to the workplace.
對歷史的速寫可能少不了從家庭走向職場的歷程。
In fact, the first generation Ms Goldin studies, born in 1878-97, contained plenty of working women.
實際上,戈爾丁研究的第一代女性——出生于1878年至1897年——包含大量職業女性。
But a successful career typically required forgoing children and sometimes marriage.
但成功的職業生涯通常需要放棄生育,有時還需要放棄婚姻。
Among those listed in "Notable American Women", a collection of biographies, no more than three in ten had a child, she writes.
她寫道,在傳記集《美國知名女性傳》中,有孩子的女性不超過三成。
The choice women faced was "family or career".
女性面臨的選擇是“家庭還是事業”。
By the third generation, those born between 1924 and 1943, college-educated women had a more uniform life experience: "family then job".
到了出生于1924到1943年的第三代,受過大學教育的女性有了更統一的生活經歷:“先成家,再立業”。
The typical woman worked after graduation, but soon married, had children and dropped out of the workforce.
通常女性在畢業后工作,但很快就結婚、生子并退出了職場。
She returned once her children were in school, and the gradual removal of formal discriminatory barriers opened up opportunities for her.
孩子們上學后,她又回歸工作,那個年代職場上的歧視性障礙逐漸消除,給她們提供了機會。
But her prolonged absence from work meant she did not have the skills and experience necessary to thrive in the workplace.
但太久不工作意味著她們不具備在職場上順利發展所必需的技能和經驗。
It is only by the fifth group, born after 1958, that many women aspired to achieve "career and family".
直到1958年以后出生的第五代女性出現,許多女性才渴望擁有“事業和家庭”。
The shift was aided by the contraceptive pill, which helped women delay marriage; improved fertility treatments, which helped them delay child-bearing; and more liberal social norms.
這一轉變得益于避孕藥,受孕治療的改進和更開明的社會規范;避孕藥幫助女性推遲了結婚年齡,受孕治療的改進幫助她們推遲了生育年齡。
Yet, despite the staggering extent of the change Ms Goldin documents, a clear gender gap still exists for these women, most notably with respect to pay.
然而,盡管戈爾丁女士記錄的這些變化很驚人,但這些女性仍然要面對明顯的性別差距,尤其是在薪酬方面。
American women earn on average 20% less per hour worked.
美國女性平均時薪比男性低20%。
For college graduates, the gap is larger, at 26%.
對于大學畢業生來說,這一差距更大,為26%。
It is at this point that the book becomes provocative.
正是在這一點上,這本書變得有爭議性。
Drawing on reams of research Ms Goldin argues that most women no longer suffer much labour-market discrimination in the sense of unequal pay for equal performance, as is often claimed by the left.
戈爾丁參考了大量的研究,認為大多數女性已經不再像左派經常聲稱的那樣,在勞動市場上受到很多同工不同酬的歧視。
Nor is the gender pay gap driven primarily by women's choice of occupation, an explanation sometimes favoured by the right.
性別收入差距也并非像右派有時愛拿來辯解的那樣,主要由女性的職業選擇造成。