有事業的母親再生一個小孩需要付出多少代價

It's no easy feat being a working mom. Juggling both a career and family takes a lot of strength, patience and skill, and is something that should be rewarded. But according to a new study, the opposite is happening: women continue to rake in less money simply for having kids.

做個在職母親並不是什麼容易事兒。既要照顧家庭又要兼顧事業，這需要付出很多努力、耐心和技巧，也應該是值得嘉獎的事情。但新研究表明：事實恰恰相反，只是因爲有小孩兒，女性卻繼續領取較低的薪資。

In the study, researchers from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth looked at the wage gap between working moms and female workers without children during the 1986 to 1995, 1996 to 2004 and 2006 to 2014 time periods, using data from the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics. They found that working moms receive a pay penalty for each kid they have.

在這項研究中，華盛頓公平成長中心（Washington Center for Equitable Growth）的研究員研究了在職母親與沒有小孩兒的女性工作者的工資差異，時間跨度爲1986至1995年、1996至2004年，以及2006至2014年，數據來源於美國收入動態研究小組。他們發現：在職母親每生一個小孩兒就會受到相應的工資懲罰。

Compared to women without kids, working moms with three or more children earned approximately 18 percent less, the Boston Globe reports. For moms with two children, they earned about 13 percent less than their counterparts without kids, and interestingly, moms with just one child earned between 8 to 14 percent less. The findings held true even when the moms and women without kids had the same education and experience.

有3個或更多小孩兒的在職母親所掙的工資要比沒有小孩兒的女性少近18%，《波士頓環球報》報道。對於有2個小孩兒的母親而言，她們所掙的工資比沒有小孩兒的女性少近13%，有趣的是，有1個小孩兒的母親所掙的工資比沒有小孩兒的女性少8%至14%。即使當在職母親和沒有小孩兒的女性受過相同的教育、有着相同的經歷時，這一研究結果也仍然成立。

Although the idea of the motherhood penalty has been around for decades, the research serves as an important reminder that despite all our advancements-more mothers in the workforce, more women rising to top positions in companies and more women earning college degrees-this is still a problem.

儘管母職罰款這一想法已存在幾十年了，但研究提醒人們：雖然我們在進步--工作場所的母親更多、公司身居高位的女性更多、擁有本科學歷的女性更多--但這個問題仍然存在。

According to study co-author Joya Misra, a professor of sociology and public policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, having many kids isn't the main issue-it's being a mom in the first place. Misra tells the Boston Globe, "Whether you have one or two doesn't really matter to an employer. Just the fact that you're a mother is powerful enough that they're not looking to see how many you have."

研究的合著作者、馬薩諸塞州阿默斯特大學社會與公共政策教授喬娜·米拉斯表示，有很多小孩兒並不是主要問題--一開始問題就指向母親。米拉斯對《波士頓環球報》說道，"無論你有一個或兩個小孩兒，僱主認爲這些都不重要。你是母親這一事實就已經涵蓋很多信息了，他們無需知道你有多少小孩兒。"

But lower wages aren't the only consequence to being a working mom-employers' perceptions of their capabilities take a hit too.

但工資低並不是成爲在職母親的唯一後果--僱主也會因此對她們的能力大打折扣。