三分之一的英国职业母亲是家庭经济支柱 [英国媒体]

Most of the 2 million women who carry financial responsibility for their family are in low-paying jobs. Photograph: David Levenson/Alamy

两百万从事低收入职业的妇女承担着家庭的经济重担

A third of Britain’s working mothers are the main earners in their family and most of this 2m-strong group are low earners, according to a report that will intensify the debate over gender inequality in the UK.

据英国性别不平等报告显示，英国三分之一的在职母亲是她们家庭的主要经济来源，而这个群体中超过两百万是低收入者。

The finding could also heap pressure on George Osborne as he comes under fire for imposing a ￡1,300 average cut in tax credits next April, which will fall disproportionately on breadwinning mothers, many of them already struggling to provide for their families.

这个发现被塞进了乔治奥斯本的文件堆，帮他压下了因为明年4月将要减少征收的1300万英磅税收的怒火，这笔钱原本会不成比例的落在这些母亲们的身上，她们当中的很多人已经在位家庭努力挣扎。

The report by the IPPR thinktank, Who’s breadwinning in Europe, shows that the proportion of working women who carry the main financial burden has grown dramatically in recent decades following a surge in single parenthood.

出自智库的该份报告显示，在欧洲，养家糊口的重担由女性承担的比例大幅增加，尤其是最近几十年，单亲家庭数量的提升。

Over the past two decades, employment among single parents – mostly women – had risen dramatically from 47.1% in 1996 to 65.7% in 2014, the report said.

在过去二十多年里，有工作的单亲家长——大多数是母亲——从1996年的47.1%上升到2014年的65.7%。

The rise in single parenthood contributed to an overall increase in maternal breadwinners from 23% in 1996 to 33% in 2013. 

单亲家庭的增加导致独立抚养孩子母亲的人数从1996年23%增加到了2013年的33%。

A substantial rise between 2008 and 2011 was fuelled by an increase in maternal breadwinners in couple households, the report said, highlighting the accelerating decline in pay and job security in traditional male jobs in the aftermath of the financial crash.

2008到2011年，单身母亲工作养家的数据出现大幅增长，报告随后显示，在金融危机后，传统男性的工作保障、就业率、工资均有下降。

But their earnings are in the bottom half of the income scale, putting them in the front line when tax credit cuts bite next April.

底层男性的收入大约只能承担家庭开销的一半儿，明年四月减税政策实行后他们又能占据主要数据。

Unlike the Netherlands, where female breadwinners are represented evenly across all income brackets, the report said that, in Britain, there was a higher concentration in lower-income brackets. In working families, in the bottom half of the income distribution, 37% had the mother as the main earner; in the top half, it was 29%.

跟荷兰不同，担起养家收入女性有各个层级的，报告显示，在英国低层女性出来工作养的家的比例更大一些。在需要依靠母亲养家的家庭中，低收入者母亲要担起一半养家重任的占37%，高收入层只有29%。

A comparison with EU countries showed that some of its hardest-hit economies have the highest proportion of women breadwinners. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Portugal, Croatia and Ireland make up the top six. In Latvia, women are the main breadwinner in almost 50% of households.

和欧盟国家相比，那些经济危机严重的国家，女性养家的比例更高。拉脱维亚，立陶宛，斯洛文尼亚，葡萄牙，克罗地亚和爱尔兰，占据了前六位。在拉脱维亚，几乎一半女性需要挑起家庭经济的顶梁柱。

Countries that have seen a sudden surge since 2008 include Italy, Spain and Cyprus.

自2008年起，意大利，西班牙和塞浦路斯等几个国家，该项数据也突然激增。

An in-depth comparison with Germany, which has a maternal breadwinner rate of 27%, reveals that a rise in single-parent families accounts for the bulk of increase in both countries, though single parents play a larger role in Germany.

在和德国数据比较中发现，依靠母亲养家的比例占到27%，两国单亲家庭数量上均有上升，当然这一高比例是因为德国单亲家庭居多导致。

The report said this was in part because German mothers were restricted in their ability to work by childcare responsibilities.

报告还显示，因为德国母亲照顾孩子这一责任是使得她们减少了外出工作。

PS：德国的传统观点就是：通常情况下，有了孩子要由母亲照顾，倘若母亲去工作没有照顾孩子就是失职，部分地区的传统还认为“有孩子不照顾跑去工作赚钱的母亲不会是个好员工”，具体照顾到多少岁外出工作才不被认为是“失职母亲”，各地方观点也有差异。因为德国没有类似幼儿园之类的机构，倒是有不少类似夏令营冬令营之类的，通常天气好才带孩子出去玩，室内的通常要求亲子活动，且结束时间远早于下班时间。

“Most children start school at four in the UK though the legal requirement is at five. In Germany, children start school at six. This is likely to have a dampening effect on maternal employment for German mothers,” it said.

“英国孩子大多是在四岁上学，虽然法律要求得满五岁。而德国，孩子们得满六岁才准许上学。这很大可能上限制了德国母亲们的就业。”报告说。

Across Europe, nearly one in three (31.4%) mothers in working families with dependent children are breadwinners as the trend is for more women to take on a heavier financial burden.

在欧洲，近三分之一（31.4%）的母亲得赚钱养孩子，随着数量的增加，更多经济重担压在了女性身上。

The report shows that 88% of families were working in 2014, the highest proportion since records began in 1996 – and dual-earner households are now the norm.

报告显示，从1996年有双职工家庭记录开始，在2014年父母都得出来工作的家庭占据了新高，高达88%。

Over the decade from 2004 to 2013, fourm fifths of countries with available data have seen increases in maternal breadwinning.

在过去的10年之间，2004—2013，这些国家五分之一的论坛上，母亲挣钱养家的话题一直在增加。

“It also shows that, while more than two thirds (68.3%) of couple households have both parents in work, it is single parents who have driven the rise in parental employment,” the report said.

报告称，“这也表明，虽然有超过三分之二的双职工家庭，但是单亲家庭的增长拉升了就业数据的增高。”

译者：看完不能不吐槽一句，真矫情啊！话说咱大中国，除了退休的阿姨大妈和修养的产妇准产妇，有几个女性是不工作承担养家责任的？