The Motherhood Penalty: We’re Losing Talent to Caregiving母職懲罰：育兒埋沒英才

謝利·扎利斯 袁峰

When women in the workplace talk about their children， theyre often seen as distracted. When men talk about their children， theyre viewed as caring dads. New research supports that the “motherhood penalty1” is real： The latest Bright Horizons2 annual Modern Family Index found that：

· 69% of working Americans say working moms are more likely to be passed up for a new job than other employees

· 60% say career opportunities are given to less qualified employees instead of working moms who may be more skilled

· 72% of both working moms and dads agree that women are penalized in their careers for starting families， while men are not

Is this fair？ The motherhood penalty may play a big part in holding women back from leadership positions and contribute to the wage gap. In fact， women get a 4% pay cut for each child they have， compared to men who get a 6% pay increase on average， according to The New York Times. With roughly 40% of women now the breadwinners， this penalty impacts the financial well-being not only of women， but of men and families as well. Moreover， this bias also affects women who do not currently—and may never have—children.

We may even be moving backwards when it comes to supporting mothers in the workplace： Nearly twice as many U.S. women are nervous to tell their boss they are pregnant as compared to five years ago， and 65% of women without children have reservations about having a child， including 42% who fear it would hurt their career trajectory3， according to the Modern Family Index.

So how can we overcome the motherhood penalty and help companies， leaders and employees think and behave differently？ Here are some action steps to change the equation， from workplace practices that employees can take to policies companies can adopt.

Both men and women should be transparent about your personal responsibilities. We all have a life outside of work： Being open about your own can help encourage others to do the same. What if both men and women brought their family pictures to work， and—rather than making excuses—let everyone know they were leaving early to go to their childs game？ The more we talk about parenting in the workplace， the more it becomes the new norm.

“Ive been in companies where we didnt talk about our families or put up personal pictures because we didnt want others to think we couldnt handle work with our children，” says Bearfield Maribeth， Chief Human Resources Officer of Bright Horizons. “There are moments where you have to step out4 to respond to family needs， and if we see leaders doing that， it makes it easier for everyone to do that. If employees dont feel comfortable， say， taking a call from their child during a meeting， will they really be present？”

Give parents professional support and pathways to leadership. Promote moms into leadership positions so they are role models in the workplace， and give them the support they need. Hila Roberts， an Atlanta-based merchant at Home Depot5 and mother to a 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son， says there are a lot of things companies can do to support parents. “Home Depot offers onsite daycare through Bright Horizons， plus 10 days of subsidized backup care6. I have lunch with my son once a week. It gives us one-on-one time—which doesnt take away from work because you have to eat—and personalizes family in the workplace.”

Remember that it takes a village7. When I was working in market research with three young kids， my girlfriends were indispensable. We coordinated with one another and helped each other raise our kids， such as by enrolling them in the same after-school activities so we could take turns carpooling8. I believe having a circle of women to rely on is a secret to success for both work and home life.

“Similar to building a successful startup， it also takes a village to succeed at work and at home，” says Amanda Cashin， Vice President of Illumina Accelerator， which helps entrepreneurs create genomics startups， and mother of a 1-year-old son. “I have a very supportive husband， family and friends， and I have had the privilege of having mentors who have believed in me throughout the years. Im also part of a biotech womens group who support each other as we advance. Our pledge this year is to help one female advance to the C-suite9 or to a board.”

Offer inclusive paid leave. If we want to attract and retain best talent and not just the available talent， then we need to create parental policies that matter， that work and that adjust for employees life stages.

Having inclusive leave policies in place will help normalize caregiving in the workplace. Some legislation to watch is the Family and Medical Insurance Leave （FAMILY） Act that was introduced in 2019， which would allow both men and women up to 12 weeks of paid leave for personal responsibilities， such as the birth or adoption of a child， or caregiving for a parent or spouse.

The Modern Family Index also finds that 89% of American workers think that working moms bring out the best in employees， and rate working moms as more diplomatic， better listeners， better team players and calmer in a crisis as compared to working dads and employees without children.

The workplace today needs leaders with traits traditionally associated with femininity—such as empathy10， nurturing and collaboration—now more than ever. When we support mothers in the workplace and normalize caregiving for fathers， we all win. The time for equality is now.

職場女性談?wù)摵⒆?，往往被視為開小差。職場男性閑聊子女，卻被譽為慈愛老爸。最新研究表明，“母職懲罰”確實存在——光明地平線公司的最新年度“現(xiàn)代家庭指數(shù)”調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)：

· 69%的美國職場人士表示，在競爭新職位時，職場媽媽比其他員工更有可能被篩掉。

· 60%的職場人士表示，得到職業(yè)發(fā)展機會的往往是能力相對較弱的員工，而不是技能可能更熟練的職場媽媽。

· 72%的職場媽媽和爸爸一致認(rèn)為，女性在職業(yè)生涯中因為生兒育女而遭受懲罰，男性卻不受影響。

這公平嗎？母職懲罰恐怕在阻礙女性擔(dān)任領(lǐng)導(dǎo)職位方面起了不小作用，也是導(dǎo)致薪資差異的部分原因。據(jù)《紐約時報》報道，事實上，每生一個孩子會使女性的收入減少4%，而讓男性的收入平均增長6%。因為現(xiàn)在約有40%的女性要掙錢養(yǎng)家，這一懲罰影響的不只是女性的經(jīng)濟福祉，還有男性和全家的經(jīng)濟福祉。此外，這種歧視還影響到目前未育的女性——她們或許永遠(yuǎn)都不會要孩子。

在為職場媽媽提供支持方面，我們甚至可能正在倒退。“現(xiàn)代家庭指數(shù)”調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，對于將自己懷孕的消息告訴老板感到忐忑不安的美國女性幾乎是五年前的兩倍，65%的未育女性對生孩子持保留態(tài)度，其中42%的人擔(dān)心這會損害她們的職業(yè)前程。

那么，我們?nèi)绾尾拍芟嘎殤土P，促使企業(yè)、企業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和員工改變思維、調(diào)整行為呢？以下是一些改變現(xiàn)狀的行動措施，包括員工可踐行的職場行為和企業(yè)可采取的政策。

職場男性和女性都應(yīng)該大方坦陳自己的個人責(zé)任。我們都有業(yè)余生活：敞開心扉談?wù)撟约旱膫€人生活會帶動別人效仿。如果職場男女把家人的照片帶到職場，讓大家知道自己提早下班是為了去觀看孩子比賽，而不是編造借口，會怎么樣呢？我們在職場越多談?wù)撚齼?，育兒就越會成為新常態(tài)。

光明地平線首席人力資源官貝爾菲爾德·瑪里貝斯表示：“在我曾供職過的幾家企業(yè)，我們不談家庭，也不展示私人照片，因為不想讓別人認(rèn)為我們有了孩子就無法應(yīng)付工作。有些時候你必須抽身應(yīng)對家庭需求，而看到領(lǐng)導(dǎo)如此行事，會更容易讓眾人效仿。比如說吧，員工開會時對接聽孩子打來的電話感覺為難，他們就會真正把心思放在會上嗎？”

為職場父母提供職業(yè)支持和晉升至領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的途徑。將職場媽媽提升至領(lǐng)導(dǎo)職位，讓她們成為職場榜樣，并給予她們所需的支持。希拉·羅伯茨是亞特蘭大的一名家得寶商戶，也是一位媽媽，有一個6歲的女兒和一個3歲的兒子。她說，企業(yè)在支持職場父母方面大有可為?！凹业脤毺峁┯晒饷鞯仄骄€承辦的職場日托服務(wù)，外加10天后備看護補貼。我每周一次與兒子共進午餐。這讓我們有時間單獨相處，在職場享受人性化家庭生活，但又沒占用工作時間，因為你總得吃飯啊?！?/p>

記住，這需要“舉全村之力”。我在市場研究行業(yè)工作時有三個年幼子女，閨蜜們對我來說不可或缺。我們互相協(xié)調(diào)，互相幫忙照看孩子，比如讓他們報名參加相同的課外活動，這樣我們就可以拼車，輪流接送。我認(rèn)為，擁有一個可以依靠的女友圈子是職業(yè)生涯和家庭生活的成功秘訣。

Illumina Accelerator公司專門協(xié)助創(chuàng)業(yè)者創(chuàng)建基因組領(lǐng)域的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)，該公司副總裁阿曼達(dá)·卡欣是個有一歲兒子的媽媽，她表示：“與打造成功的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)相似，要想事業(yè)成功、家庭美滿，也得‘舉全村之力。我有非常支持我的丈夫和親朋好友，有幸擁有多年來一直信任我的良師益友。我還是生物技術(shù)領(lǐng)域一個職場女性團體的成員，在這個團體中，大家相互支持、共同進步。我們今年的誓約是幫助一名女性晉升為首席高管或進入董事會?！?/p>

提供包容性帶薪休假。如果我們希望吸納和留住最優(yōu)秀的人才，而不只是可供雇用的人才，那我們就要為職場父母制定至關(guān)重要、行之有效、適應(yīng)員工不同人生階段的政策。

實施包容性休假政策將有助于實現(xiàn)職場育兒常態(tài)化。值得關(guān)注的法律有2019年出臺的美國《家庭與醫(yī)療保險休假法》，該法律允許男性和女性因盡個人責(zé)任（如生育或領(lǐng)養(yǎng)子女、照料父母或配偶）而享受最多12周的帶薪休假。

現(xiàn)代家庭指數(shù)調(diào)查還發(fā)現(xiàn)，89%的美國員工認(rèn)為職場媽媽能充分發(fā)揮員工的長處，與職場爸爸和沒有孩子的員工相比，職場媽媽更會待人接物，更善于傾聽，更有團隊精神，在危機中更加沉著冷靜。

今天的職場比以往更需要具有諸如通情達(dá)理、悉心關(guān)照、樂于協(xié)作等傳統(tǒng)女性特質(zhì)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人。只要我們支持職場媽媽，使爸爸參與育兒成為常態(tài)，大家都會是贏家?，F(xiàn)在該是平起平坐的時候了。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>

1 motherhood penalty母職懲罰，女性由于生育而在就業(yè)、晉升、績效評估、薪資收入等方面遭受的負(fù)面影響。? 2經(jīng)營托育中心的美國公司，依托雇主企業(yè)向其員工提供托兒和幼教服務(wù)。

3 trajectory軌跡，軌道。

4 step out出去，暫時離開。? 5美國家居建材用品零售商，經(jīng)營家居建材連鎖超市。

6 backup care后備看護，因原定看護安排有變而臨時安排的應(yīng)急看護。? 7 it takes a village出自非洲諺語“It takes a village to raise a child.”，本義為“養(yǎng)育一個孩子需舉全村之力”，喻義為“養(yǎng)育孩子需要集社區(qū)、社會之力”。? 8 carpooling拼車。

9 C-suite 指組織機構(gòu)中最高層的管理人員，即職位名稱以C（chief，首席）開頭的高管們。? 10 empathy同感，共鳴。