不平等的童年 美國貧富家庭子女生活差異擴大

The lives of children from rich and poor American families look more different than ever before.

美國貧富家庭子女的生活差異，看起來比以往任何時候都大。

Well-off families are ruled by calendars, with children enrolled in ballet, soccer and after-school programs, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. There are usually two parents, who spend a lot of time reading to children and worrying about their anxiety levels and hectic schedules.

皮尤研究中心(Pew Research Center)的一項新調查發現，富裕家庭完全按日程安排行事，子女跳芭蕾、踢足球、參加課外項目。這些家庭通常是雙親家庭，家長會花大量時間給子女讀書，並且擔心他們的焦慮程度和緊張的日程安排。

In poor families, meanwhile, children tend to spend their time at home or with extended family, the survey found. They are more likely to grow up in neighborhoods that their parents say aren’t great for raising children, and their parents worry about them getting shot, beaten up or in trouble with the law.

調查也發現，貧困家庭的孩子往往待在家中，或在大家庭中消磨時光。他們成長的社區，更可能被其父母形容爲不適合養育孩子，而父母會擔心他們遭槍擊、捱打或參與違法活動。

The class differences in child rearing are growing, researchers say — a symptom of widening inequality with far-reaching consequences. Different upbringings set children on different paths and can deepen socioeconomic divisions, especially because education is strongly linked to earnings. Children grow up learning the skills to succeed in their socioeconomic stratum, but not necessarily others.

研究者認爲，子女撫養方面的階級差異正在擴大，這是不平等現象加劇的一個徵兆，將會有深遠的影響。不同的養育方式會將孩子置於不同的發展路徑，並加深社會經濟的差距，尤其是考慮到教育與收入有很強的關聯。孩子成長過程中，會學到在其所處的社會經濟階層內取得成功的技能，但不一定會學到其他技能。

“Early childhood experiences can be very consequential for children’s long-term social, emotional and cognitive development,” said Sean F. Reardon, professor of poverty and inequality in education at Stanford University. “And because those influence educational success and later earnings, early childhood experiences cast a lifelong shadow.”

斯坦福大學從事貧窮和教育不平等研究的教授肖恩·F·里爾登(Sean F. Reardon)指出：“早期童年經歷會對兒童在社會、情感和認知方面的長期發展產生很大影響。由於這些因素會影響教育的成功，進而影響以後的收入，因此早期童年經歷會影響人的一生。”

The cycle continues: Poorer parents have less time and fewer resources to invest in their children, which can leave children less prepared for school and work, which leads to lower earnings.

這個循環還不止於此：較窮的父母可以投入到子女身上的時間和資源較少，可能會使子女的入學和工作準備不足，進而導致收入降低。

American parents want similar things for their children, the Pew report and past research have found: for them to be healthy and happy, honest and ethical, caring and compassionate. There is no best parenting style or philosophy, researchers say, and across income groups, 92 percent of parents say they are doing a good job at raising their children.

皮尤的報告和過去的研究發現，美國父母對子女的期望都差不多：希望他們健康快樂、誠實有道德、有愛心和同情心。研究者認爲，世上不存在最好的養育方式或理念；在所有收入階層中，92%的父母認爲他們在養育子女上做得不錯。

Yet they are doing it quite differently.

但是，他們的養育方式卻有相當大的差異。

Middle-class and higher-income parents see their children as projects in need of careful cultivation, says Annette Lareau, whose groundbreaking research on the topic was published in her book “Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life.” They try to develop their skills through close supervision and organized activities, and teach children to question authority figures and navigate elite institutions.

安妮特·拉羅(Annette Lareau)認爲，中產階級和較高收入的父母將子女看成需要精心培育的工程。他們努力通過密切的監督和有組織的活動來培育孩子的技能，教導孩子質疑權威，出入於精英機構。拉羅將有關該主題的突破性研究發表在《不平等的童年：階級、種族和家庭生活》(Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life)一書中。

Working-class parents, meanwhile, believe their children will naturally thrive, and give them far greater independence and time for free play. They are taught to be compliant and deferential to adults.

而工薪階層的父母則認爲子女可以自然而然地成長，給他們更多自主權和自由玩耍的時間。孩子們被教導要順從成年人，對成年人要尊敬。

There are benefits to both approaches. Working-class children are happier, more independent, whine less and are closer with family members, Ms. Lareau found. Higher-income children are more likely to declare boredom and expect their parents to solve their problems.

兩種方法各有長處。拉羅發現，工薪階層子女更快樂、更獨立、抱怨少，與家庭成員更親近。在收入較高的家庭，子女更可能覺得無聊，期望父母幫他們解決問題。

Yet later on, the more affluent children end up in college and en route to the middle class, while working-class children tend to struggle. Children from higher-income families are likely to have the skills to navigate bureaucracies and succeed in schools and workplaces, Ms. Lareau said.

不過之後，富裕家庭的子女上大學和進入中產階級的道路更順暢，而工薪階層子女則往往要奮鬥。拉羅說，高收入家庭的子女更擅於應付官僚程序，在學校和工作中取得成功。

“Do all parents want the most success for their children? Absolutely,” she said. “Do some strategies give children more advantages than others in institutions? Probably they do. Will parents be damaging children if they have one fewer organized activity? No, I really doubt it.”

“是否所有父母都希望子女獲得最大的成功？絕對是，”她說。“某些策略是不是可以讓孩子在學校裏取得更多優勢？這有可能。如果父母少安排一項活動，是否就會給孩子帶來損害？我對此真的很懷疑。”

Social scientists say the differences arise in part because low-income parents have less money to spend on music class or preschool, and less flexible schedules to take children to museums or attend school events.

社會科學家認爲，出現差異的部分原因在於，低收入的父母可以花在音樂課或學前班上的資金較少，日程靈活性也較差，沒時間帶孩子去博物館或參加學校活動。

Extracurricular activities epitomize the differences in child rearing in the Pew survey, which was of a nationally representative sample of 1,807 parents. Of families earning more than $75,000 a year, 84 percent say their children have participated in organized sports over the past year, 64 percent have done volunteer work and 62 percent have taken lessons in music, dance or art. Of families earning less than $30,000, 59 percent of children have done sports, 37 percent have volunteered and 41 percent have taken arts classes.

課外活動集中地體現了皮尤的調查中發現的養育方式的差異，該調查的樣本包括1807位父母，具有全國代表性。調查發現，年收入超過7.5萬美元的家庭中，84%稱其子女在過去的一年中參加過有組織的體育活動，64%做過志願者工作，62%參加過音樂、舞蹈或藝術類學習班。在年收入低於3萬美元的家庭中，59%家庭的子女參加過體育活動，37%做過志願者，41%參加過藝術學習班。

Especially in affluent families, children start young. Nearly half of high-earning, college-graduate parents enrolled their children in arts classes before they were 5, compared with one-fifth of low-income, less-educated parents.

尤其是在富裕家庭中，孩子們很小就開始（參加各種活動）了。在大學畢業的高收入父母中，有近一半的人在子女5歲之前就爲其報了藝術學習班，相比之下，教育程度較低的低收入家長這麼做的比例爲五分之一。

Nonetheless, 20 percent of well-off parents say their children’s schedules are too hectic, compared with 8 percent of poorer parents.

儘管如此，富裕家庭的父母當中，還是有20%認爲，其子女的日程安排太緊張。而相比之下，貧窮父母的這個比例是8%。

Another example is reading aloud, which studies have shown gives children bigger vocabularies and better reading comprehension in school. Seventy-one percent of parents with a college degree say they do it every day, compared with 33 percent of those with a high school diploma or less, Pew found. White parents are more likely than others to read to their children daily, as are married parents.

另一個例子是朗讀。研究顯示，朗讀能讓孩子在上學後擁有更大的詞彙量和更好的閱讀理解能力。皮尤的研究發現，在有大學學歷的父母中，有71%的父母稱他們每天這樣做，而相比之下，只有高中或以下文憑的父母這麼做的比例是33%。在婚內雙親家庭中，相對於其他家長，白人父母每天爲子女朗讀的比例更高。

Most affluent parents enroll their children in preschool or day care, while low-income parents are more likely to depend on family members.

大多數富裕的父母爲其子女報了學前班或日託班，而低收入父母則更可能將子女託付給家人。

Discipline techniques vary by education level: 8 percent of those with a postgraduate degree say they often spank their children, compared with 22 percent of those with a high school degree or less.

處罰子女的方式因教育程度不同而存在差異。在有研究生學歷的父母中，有8%的父母稱他們經常打孩子屁股，而相比之下，教育程度在高中或以下的父母這麼做的比例是22%。

The survey also probed attitudes and anxieties. Interestingly, parents’ attitudes toward education do not seem to reflect their own educational background as much as a belief in the importance of education for upward mobility.

調查還探究了家長的態度和焦慮情況。有意思的是，家長對教育的態度似乎與家長的教育背景關係不太大，而與是否持有教育對向上流動具有重要意義這個信念的關係更大。

Most American parents say they are not concerned about their children’s grades as long as they work hard. But 50 percent of poor parents say it is extremely important to them that their children earn a college degree, compared with 39 percent of wealthier parents.

多數美國家長表示，只要孩子努力學習，就不關心孩子的分數。但貧困家長中，有半數稱，他們認爲孩子取得大學學歷很重要，相比之下，較爲富裕的家長中這個比例僅爲39%。

Less-educated parents, and poorer and black and Latino parents are more likely to believe that there is no such thing as too much involvement in a child’s education. Parents who are white, wealthy or college-educated say too much involvement can be bad.

教育程度較低的家長，較爲貧困的家長，以及黑人和拉丁裔家長，更傾向於認爲過多幹預孩子的教育不是一個問題。而白人家長、富有的家長或受過大學教育的家長則表示，過多幹預孩子的學習可能產生壞作用。

Parental anxieties reflect their circumstances. High-earning parents are much more likely to say they live in a good neighborhood for raising children. While bullying is parents’ greatest concern over all, nearly half of low-income parents worry their child will get shot, compared with one-fifth of high-income parents. They are more worried about their children being depressed or anxious.

父母的焦慮反映了他們的家庭條件。高收入的家長更傾向於表示，他們生活的社區適合撫養孩子。儘管總體而言，孩子受到欺負是父母最大的擔憂，但低收入的家長中有近半數擔心孩子遭到槍擊，高收入父母中則只有五分之一。他們更擔憂的是孩子出現抑鬱或焦慮。

In the Pew survey, middle-class families earning between $30,000 and $75,000 a year fell right between working-class and high-earning parents on issues like the quality of their neighborhood for raising children, participation in extracurricular activities and involvement in their children’s education.

在皮尤的調查中，年收入在3萬至7.5萬美元的中產家庭，在居住的社區是否適合養育孩子、參與課外活動、干涉孩子的教育等問題上，正好處在工薪階層和高收入階層家長之間。

Children were not always raised so differently. The achievement gap between children from high- and low-income families is 30 percent to 40 percent larger among children born in 2001 than those born 25 years earlier, according to Mr. Reardon’s research.

養育孩子的方式並不是一直都有這麼大的區別。里爾登的研究發現，在高收入家庭和低收入家庭之間，出生於2001年的孩子當中的成績差距，與25年前出生的孩子相比擴大了30%到40%。

People used to live near people of different income levels; neighborhoods are now more segregated by income. More than a quarter of children live in single-parent households — a historic high, according to Pew – and these children are three times as likely to live in poverty as those who live with married parents. Meanwhile, growing income inequality has coincided with the increasing importance of a college degree for earning a middle-class wage.

過去我們周圍都住着不同收入水平的鄰居，但現在社區之間按照收入有了更大的隔閡。超過四分之一的孩子生活在單親家庭，根據皮尤數據，這是有記錄以來的最高水平，而這些孩子生活在貧困當中的可能性，是婚內雙親家庭的三倍。與此同時，收入不平等加劇之際，要想賺到中產階級的收入，大學學歷的重要性越來越大了。

Yet there are recent signs that the gap could be starting to shrink. In the past decade, even as income inequality has grown, some of the socioeconomic differences in parenting, like reading to children and going to libraries, have narrowed, Mr. Reardon and others have found.

不過最近有跡象顯示，鴻溝可能開始縮小了。里爾登和其他學者發現，在過去十年裏，雖然收入不平等加劇了，但在讀書給孩子聽、去圖書館等一些養育方式上，社會經濟差異卻縮小了。

Public policies aimed at young children have helped, he said, including public preschool programs and reading initiatives. Addressing disparities in the earliest years, it seems, could reduce inequality in the next generation.

他說，針對兒童的公共政策起到了幫助，包括公立學前教育項目和讀書活動。從童年初期開始應對差距，似乎能夠減少下一代的不平等。