2022年经济学人 更多负担得起的托儿服务将有助于一些母亲找到有报酬的工作（2）

搜索

复制

Despite nursery costs that are around 60% higher than in the oecd, a club of mostly rich countries , employment rates for British mothers with children under 15 are in the middle of the pack.

尽管英国的育儿成本比主要由富裕国家组成的经济合作与发展组织的国家高出60%左右，但孩子在15岁以下的英国母亲的就业率却处于中等水平。

This suggests that mothers who really want to work are finding a way to do so.

这表明，真正想要工作的母亲正在寻找一种方法来做到这一点。

But there is also plenty of evidence that constraints¹ are an issue.

但也有大量证据表明，限制是一个问题。

Three in five non-working mothers say that they would prefer to work, given the right child care.

五分之三的没有工作的母亲表示，如果孩子得到适当的照顾，她们更愿意工作。

Families had to fork out an average of 260 pounds ($320) a week in 2021 for 50 hours of nursery care for a child under two, according to a survey by Coram Family and Childcare, a charity.

根据科拉姆家庭和儿童保育慈善机构的一项调查，2021年，每个家庭要为两岁以下的儿童提供50小时的托儿服务，平均每周要支付260英镑(320美元)。

A tenth of households with a child under five report difficulty meeting such costs.

有五岁以下孩子的家庭中，有十分之一的家庭表示支付不起此类费用。

Borrowing to cover child-care bills is a nice idea in theory, but uncertainty² over their future earnings³ puts many people off.

从理论上讲，借钱来支付育儿费用是一个好主意，但他们未来收入的不确定性让许多人望而却步。

As well as price, availability is a problem.

除了价格，供应也是一个问题。

Just 68% of local authorities in England report having enough child-care provision to serve parents who work full time.

英格兰只有68%的地方政府有足够的托儿服务来照顾全职工作的父母。

And the benefits that could flow from evening out the gender⁴ imbalance in child care could be pretty large.

而且，平衡儿童保育方面的性别失衡可能会带来相当大的好处。

The latest data suggest that the employment rate for mothers with dependent children is around 18 percentage points lower than that for fathers.

最新数据显示，抚养子女的家庭，母亲的就业率比父亲的就业率低约18个百分点。

Compared with other countries, Britain has a relatively⁵ high share of mothers in part-time work.

与其他国家相比，英国母亲从事兼职工作的比例相对较高。

One recent study estimated the gains from shuffling⁶ men and women according to aptitude⁷, pulling productive women into work and kicking unproductive men out.

最近的一项研究估计了根据能力对男性和女性进行调整的好处，让有生产力的女性去工作，把没有生产力的男性踢出局。

Astonishingly, it calculated that Britain’s average output per worker could be as much as 30% higher.

令人惊讶的是，根据它的计算，英国每个工人的平均产出可能高出30%。

Cheaper child care could help growth, in other words, but policies would need to be well-designed to target genuinely constrained⁸ parents and to stop costs spiralling out of control.

换句话说，更便宜的育儿成本可能有助于经济增长，但政策需要精心设计，针对那些确实受到约束的父母，并防止成本失控。

Generous German arrangements do not come cheap.

慷慨的德国育儿成本并不便宜。

Mr Johnson has thus far been focusing on regulatory barriers to becoming a childminder and on child-to-carer ratios.

到目前为止，约翰逊一直专注于扫清托儿所的监管障碍，以及儿童与托儿所的比例。

Yet deregulation may have only a marginal effect, and points to another problem.

然而，放松监管可能只会产生微乎其微的效果，并指向另一个问题。

Christine Farquharson of the ifs says that helping⁹ mums into work requires child care that is flexible and offers long hours.

IFS的克里斯汀·法克哈森说，帮助妈妈们找到工作需要灵活的、长时间的育儿服务。

But giving children the best start in life means shorter, structured days full of interaction.

但给孩子们人生最好的开始意味着更短、更有条理、充满互动的日子。

1 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 aptitude   

n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资

参考例句：

• That student has an aptitude for mathematics.那个学生有数学方面的天赋。
• As a child,he showed an aptitude for the piano.在孩提时代，他显露出对于钢琴的天赋。

8 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。