【经济学人精读】如今，女性的社会地位真的提高了吗?

　　【经济学人精读】如今，女性的社会地位真的提高了吗? Free exchange 自由贸易 Progress of a Sort 某种进步 Economists discover the power of social norms 经济学家发现了社会规范的力量 That makes some policies better at tackling gender inequality than others 这使得一些政策比其他政策更能解决性别不平等问题

　　1. OVER THE past generation women have made substantial economic gains, even as progress on other measures of social equality has been uneven. Their average level of education has caught up to that of men across rich and poor countries alike. Indeed in much of the rich world the share of young women with a college degree is now above that of men. Income may be divided less equally across the workforce as a whole, but it has become more evenly spread between men and women. In America women account for nearly 30% of the top tenth of earners, up from 5% in the 1960s. That said, progress is far from complete. Gaps in labour-force participation and pay persist. The nature of the obstacles holding back further progress has changed. Although economics ought to be keenly interested in such matters, not least because of gender inequalities in the profession, it has not always been of much help in understanding them. That is changing, however, in ways that could transform the field.

　　在过去一代中，妇女取得了巨大的经济成就，尽管在其他社会平等措施方面的进展并不均衡。他们的平均受教育水平已经赶上了男性。事实上，在许多富裕国家，拥有大学学位的年轻女性比例高于男性。整体而言，收入在劳动力中的分配可能不那么平均，但在男性和女性之间的分配却更加平均。在美国，女性在收入最高的十分之一的人群中所占比例从20世纪60年代的5%上升到近30%。尽管如此，进步仍远未完成。劳动力参与和薪酬方面的差距依然存在。但是阻碍进一步发展的障碍性质已经改变。尽管经济学应该对这些问题十分关注，尤其是因为这个领域中本来就存在性别不平等，但经济学对理解这些问题并不总是有很大帮助。然而，这种情况正在改变，而这些改变可能会促成这一领域的改变。

　　2. This evolution was apparent in January, in a lecture given by Marianne Bertrand of the University of Chicago. Over the past few decades, gender gaps in the rich world have had ever less to do with overt discrimination, she argued, and ever more to do with women’s decisions. Their choice of degree subject is one. Jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths have smaller gender pay gaps than others. But men are around twice as likely as women to graduate in such fields. More powerful still is the effect of childbirth. The birth of a first child has essentially no effect on a man’s earnings trajectory. By contrast a woman experiences a profound and lasting hit to her pay. The motherhood penalty, suggested Ms Bertrand, is easily the largest remaining contributor to gender gaps in labour markets.

　　这种演变在1月份芝加哥大学的玛丽安·伯特兰的一次演讲中表现得很明显。她认为，在过去几十年里，发达国家的性别差异与公开歧视的关系越来越小，而与女性的决定关系越来越大。他们对学位课程的选择是其一。在科学、技术、工程和数学领域，性别工资差距比其他领域要小。但是在这些领域毕业，男性毕业的可能性是女性的两倍。更强有力的是生育的影响。第一个孩子的出生对男性的收入轨迹基本上没有影响。相比之下，女性的薪酬会受到深远而持久的影响。贝特朗女士认为，生育是劳动力市场上性别差距最大的剩余因素。

　　3. Men and women alike opt to become parents, of course. But the unequal effect on earnings reflects their different responses to childbirth. Women are more likely to leave the labour force or to switch to part-time work. They often choose jobs that allow more flexibility, and accept lower pay as a consequence. Some studies, for instance, suggest that women take jobs with shorter commutes, to make time for their care responsibilities. In France, noted Ms Bertrand, the sacrifice in earnings associated with such decisions is estimated to explain 10-15% of the gender pay gap. It is women’s greater willingness to accept these trade-offs that accounts for diverging labour-market fortunes.

　　当然，男人和女人都会成为父母。但收入的不平等反映了她们对生育的不同反应。妇女更有可能离职或转到非全职工作。他们经常选择灵活性更强的工作，并因此接受较低的工资。例如，一些研究表明，女性从事通勤时间较短的工作，是为了腾出时间照顾家人。贝特朗指出，在法国，与此类决策相关的收入牺牲大概可以解释10-15%的性别薪酬差距。正是女性更愿意接受这些取舍，才导致了劳动力市场命运的分化。

　　4. Economists, historically, have let the matter rest there, chalking such choices up torational self-interest. Perhaps families decide that women have a comparative advantage in child-rearing, and should handle the parenting while men focus on their careers. Gary Becker, the late Nobel prize-winning economist, argued that households specialise in this way. Alternatively, perhaps women’s choices simply reveal their preferences: for subjects other than maths, for instance; or for time spent caring for children, rather than long hours at the office. And such preferences, economists have generally assumed, are to be taken as given. De gustibus non est disputandum, they say: there is no accounting for tastes.

　　从历史上看，经济学家们一直把这个问题搁置一边，把这种选择归结为理性的利己主义。也许家庭认为女性在抚养孩子方面有比较优势，因此应该由女性来负责教养孩子，而男性则专注于自己的事业。已故诺贝尔经济学奖得主加里•贝克尔(Gary Becker)认为，因为这种方式，家庭才得以发展。或者，也许女性的选择只是简单地揭示了她们的偏好，如喜欢数学之外的科目;或者喜欢花时间照顾孩子，而不是工作。经济学家们通常认为，这些偏好将被视为既定条件。他们说：趣味是无法解释的。

　　5. But perhaps there is. As Ms Bertrand noted in her lecture, other social sciences, like social psychology, reckon that preferences are socially determined. In this view, people’s choices are influenced by norms, which specify the roles and behaviours that are appropriate for men and women. Survey evidence shows that, across a broad range of rich and poor countries, both men and women support the view that men should be first in line for a vacancy when jobs are scarce. The level of support varies—for instance it is much higher in Egypt than in Switzerland. But even in Switzerland, roughly a fifth of women agreed with the statement, similar to the share of men. Gender gaps in maths scores are larger in places where gender attitudes are more conservative. This suggests that social influences matter.

　　但也许是可以解释的。正如伯特兰在她的演讲中指出的，其他社会科学，如社会心理学，认为偏好是由社会决定的。在这种观点中，人们的选择受到规范的影响，社会规定了适合男人和女人的角色和行为。调查显示，在广泛的发达国家和发展中国家中，男性和女性都支持这样一种观点，即当工作机会稀缺时，男性应首先填补空缺。支持度的差异——如，埃及比瑞士高得多。但即使在瑞士，约有五分之一的女性同意这一说法，与男性的比例相当。在性别态度较为保守的地区，男女在数学成绩上的差距更大。这表明社会影响很重要。 6. Defying social norms is possible but costly. Men who sacrifice their careers to raise children while their partners work may bear emotional costs, if, say, they are seen as being unmanly. Similarly, women who are seen to put their career before their family may face an emotional toll, related to their own guilt or the judgment of others, because of their decision to flout gender norms. The choices made under these pressures are still voluntary, but they reflect the influence of a self-perpetuating gender bias. Human resources may be allocated across the economy in a way that reflects this bias, rather than people’s abilities. Economists know these biases exist. Historically, however, they have tended to regard them as blunt descriptions of the state of the world, rather than evolving social forces that influence behaviour.

　　违背社会规范是可能的，但代价高昂。那些放弃工作抚养孩子的男性在情感上会感到受伤，尤其是当别人说他们缺乏男子汉气概的时候。同样，那些将事业置于家庭之上的女性也会遭遇情感创伤，她们会觉得内疚或者会面对别人的批评。在这些压力下做出的选择仍然是自愿的，但它们反映了一种自我延续的性别偏见的影响。人力资源在整个经济体系中的配置可能反映了这种偏见，而不是人的能力。经济学家知道这些偏见的存在。然而，从历史上看，他们倾向于将其视为对世界现状的直率描述，而不是影响行为不断发展的社会力量。

　　Puncturing the patriarchy打破父权制7. Mitigating bias is not easy. Seemingly helpful interventions, such as generous maternity leave, can backfire if they reinforce the norm that women are natural caregivers. Better, Ms Bertrand argued, to favour measures that have no such implications, such as generous support for child care. Her own research suggests that a mother’s working status shapes her children’s perceptions of labour-market norms. Those surrounding men’s behaviour matter too. Survey evidence from Japan suggests that many men feel positively about taking paternity leave. But, because they wrongly believe other men do not feel the same way, they take less time off than they would like. Firms could potentially make their workers better off by, say, choosing to make paternity leave mandatory.

　　打破偏见并不容易。看似有用的干预措施，如产假，如果它们强化了女性天生是照顾者的这一社会规范，可能就会适得其反。贝特朗认为，更好的做法是支持那些没有此类影响的措施，比如大力支持儿童保育。她自己的研究表明，母亲的工作状况会影响孩子对劳动力市场规范的看法。周围男性的行为也很重要。来自日本的调查证据表明，许多男性对休陪产假持积极态度。但是，因为他们错误地认为其他人不会有同样的感受，所以他们休假的时间比他们想要的要少。公司可以通过强制休陪产假的方式让员工过得更好。

　　8. Ms Bertrand’s arguments may not seem particularly subversive. But they carry implications that extend beyond gender discrimination. Her analysis suggests that the decision to participate in a market is not simply about maximising utility given a set of tastes and constraints. Markets, rather, are part of a suite of fluid social forces that shape behaviour. Economists cannot claim to understand the markets until they understand those forces.

　　贝特朗女士的观点似乎并不是特别具有颠覆性。但其影响并不仅仅局限于性别歧视。她的分析表明，参与一个市场的决定，不仅仅是在一套偏好和约束条件下最大化效用。相反，市场是塑造行为的一系列不稳定社会力量的一部分。不了解这些力量的话，经济学家不能说自己了解市场。

　　精读解析

　　篇章结构

　　P1：背景：女性取得巨大成就，如今，各方面存在的性别不平等正在改变。

　　P2：各领域内性别差异的影响因素：女性的决定;生育的影响。

　　P3—P6：女性的决定影响了劳动力市场的性别差异(P3)，但是，女性的决定从某种程度上来，是由社会规范影响的(P4—P5)，而违背社会规范付出的代价是巨大的(P6)。

　　P7：如何打破社会规范，真正促进女性的平等：支持那些不会进一步巩固社会规范的措施。

　　P8：总结：贝特朗女士的观点并不算是颠覆性的，但是其影响巨大;了解塑造市场行为的各种社会力量是促进市场改变的重要因素。

 

　　重点单词

　　trajectory /trə'dʒekt(ə)rɪ/ n. <物>弹道,轨迹;轨道;轨线;常角轨道

　　【例句】

　　European explorers dreamed of following Julius Caesar's career trajectory.

　　欧洲的探索者希望能够延续尤里乌斯·凯撒的道路。

　　has less to do with 与…关系不大

　　A is around twice as likely as BA大概是B的两倍

　　commute /kə'mjuːt/ vt. 交换;减刑;用……交换;使……变成

　　【例句】

　　She commutes from Cambridge to London every day.

　　她每天往返于剑桥伦敦之间。

　　trade-off /'treidɔf,-ɔ:f/ n. 交换,协定,交易,平衡

　　【例句】

　　The trade-off between work hours and productivity is still a topic of debate and research.

　　工作时间与工作效率的权衡关系仍然是讨论研究的话题。

　　chalk up 记下;取得;归咎于

　　【例句】

　　Britain also dodged a recession, chalking up growth of 0.3% following a previous contraction.

　　英国也躲过了经济衰退，在此前的经济萎缩后，该国经济增长了0.3%。

　　flout /flaʊt/ n. 嘲笑;轻视;愚弄vt. 嘲笑;愚弄;藐视

　　【例句】

　　By selling alcohol to minors, the shop is deliberately flouting the law.

　　向未成年人出售烈性酒, 是商店故意犯罪法。

　　self-perpetuating /'selfpə'petʃueitiŋ/ adj. 能使自身永久存在的;自我延续的

　　【例句】

　　The process is self-perpetuating: as ice melts, the ocean absorbs more heat and melts more ice, and so on.

　　这个过程能自我循环：当冰层溶解时，海洋能吸收更多的热量，从而溶化更多的冰。

　　maternity leave 产假

　　mandatory /'mændət(ə)rɪ/ adj. 命令的;强制的;义务的

　　【例句】

　　Wearing helmets was made mandatory for pedal cyclists.

　　戴头盔已成为对骑脚踏车者的法律规定。

　　subversive /səb'vɜːsɪv/ adj. 破坏性的;从事颠覆的n. 危险分子;颠覆分子

　　【例句】

　　Philip Roth started out as shocking and rather subversive.

　　菲利普·罗思起初的作品令人震惊且具有颠覆性。

　　maximize /ˈmæksəˌmaɪz/ vt. 使(某事物)增至最大限度;最大限度地利用(某事物)

　　【例句】

　　That would maximize oxygen for optimal combustion.

　　这的确能为燃烧提供最足的氧气。