向前一步:第141期 不要身还在 心已远(15)

 Although pundits¹ and politicians, usually male, often claim that motherhood is the most important and difficult work of all, 学者和政治家（通常是男性）常常宣称做母亲是人生中最重要也是最困难的工作，

women who take time out of the workforce² pay a big career penalty. 是的，那些从职场中退出的女性也为此付出了巨大的代价。

Only 74 percent of professional women will rejoin the workforce in any capacity, and only 40 percent will return to full-time³ jobs. 在美国，只有74%的职业女性会不顾一切重返职场，只有40%的女性会继续从事全职工作。

Those who do rejoin will often see their earnings⁴ decrease dramatically. 然而，她们会发现自己的收入戏剧化地减少了。

Controlling for education and hours worked, women's average annual earnings decrease by 20 percent if they are out of the workforce for just one year. 据调查，离开职场仅仅一年，女性的年平均收入就会下降20%；

Average annual earnings decline by 30 percent after two to three years, which is the average amount of time that professional women off-ramp from the workforce. 离职2~3年后重返职场的女性，其年平均收入将下降30%，而女性“驶出职场高速路”的平均时间正是2~3年。

If society truly valued the work of caring for children, 如果社会真正重视对孩子的培养教育，

companies and institutions would find ways to reduce these steep penalties and help parents combine career and family responsibilities. 那么各类组织机构就应该设法减少这种不合理的“罚单”，帮助社会上的所有人将事业发展和家庭责任结合起来。

All too often rigid⁵ work schedules, lack of paid family leave, and expensive or undependable child care derail women's best efforts. 同时，上班时间过于死板，带薪事假不够，以及开销昂贵或不可靠的保育人员等现实困难也无法让女性在工作中发挥出最佳水平，取得最好的工作业绩。

One miscalculation that some women make is to drop out early in their careers because their salary barely covers the cost of child care. 一些女性因为工资不足以支付育儿费用，所以早早地放弃了事业。这种做法实在得不偿失。

Child care is a huge expense, and it's frustrating⁶ to work hard just to break even. 养育孩子的确需要巨大的开销，为此辛苦地工作也让人高兴不起来，

But professional women need to measure the cost of child care against their future salary rather than their current salary. 但职业女性更需要对照未来的收入而非目前的收入来衡量育儿费用。

Anna Fieler describes becoming a mom at thirty-two as "the time when the rubber hit the road." 安娜·费勒曾把自己32岁当上妈妈的经历称为“穿着橡胶鞋底的鞋走路”。

A rising star in marketing⁷, Anna was concerned that her after-tax salary barely covered her child care expenses. 费勒在营销领域做得刚有起色，但担心自己的税后收入养不起孩子。

"With husbands often making more than wives, it seems like higher ROI to just invest in his career," she told me. “丈夫一般都比妻子挣得多，所以如果要更高的回报率就得在丈夫的事业上投资。”她告诉我。

1 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 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。

4 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%。

5 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

6 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。