雙語：為何成千上萬的印度婦女放棄工作

印度女性就業率一直位於世界倒數幾位，這兩年這一趨勢更有擴大之勢。是什麼樣的原因導致了這種情況呢？

The numbers are stark - for the first time inIndia』s recent history, not only was there a decline in the female labour participation rate, but also a shrinking of thetotalnumber of women in the workforce.

數據很嚴酷——在印度近代史上，這是首次不僅女性勞動就業率下滑，同時勞動力中的女性總數也發生縮減。

Nearly 20 million Indian women quit work between 2004-05 to 2011-12.

2004年5月到2011年12月間，近兩千萬印度婦女放棄了工作。

The labour force participation rate for women of working age declined from 42% in 1993-04 to 31% in 2011-12.

達到工作年齡的婦女的勞動就業率從1993年4月的42%下滑到了2011年12月的31%。

Some 53% of thetotaldrop - the largest chunk - happened among women aged 15-24 and living invillages

總下滑量中53%（佔比最大的一部分）是由15-24歲的少女和居住在鄉村的婦女構成的。

In rural areas, the female labour force participation rate dropped from 49% to 37.8% between 2004-05 and 2009-10.

在農村地區，女性勞動就業率從2004年5月的49%下滑到2009年10月的37.8%。

While more than 24 million men joined the work force between 2004-5 to 2009-10, the number of women in the the work force dropped by 21.7 million

儘管2004年5月到2009年10月期間，兩千四百多萬男性變成了勞動力，但是女性勞動力數量下降了兩千一百七十萬。

Using data gleaned from successive rounds of National Sample Survey Organisation and census data, a team of researchers from World Bank have attempted to find out why this is happening.

利用國家抽樣調查組織和人口普查數據連續幾輪收集的數據，世行銀行的一個研究小組試圖找出為什麼會發生這種情況。

Predictablesocialnorms are attributed to women quitting work in India:marriage, motherhood, vexed gender relations and biases, and patriarchy.

印度女性放棄工作可以歸因於可預見的社會規範：婚姻，撫養孩子，令人煩惱的性別關係和偏見，以及父權制。

But they may not be the only reasons.Marriage, for example, does affect the rate of participation of women in the workforce. But in villages, the workforce participation rate of married women has been found to be higher than that of unmarried women - whereas in the cities, the situation is reversed.

但它們可能不是唯一的原因。比方說，婚姻確實影響女性勞動力就業率。但是在農村，已婚女性的勞動力就業率比未婚女性高——然而在城市，這種情況就發生了逆轉。

Significantly, rising aspirations and relative prosperity may beactuallyresponsible for putting a large cohort of women out of work in India.

引人注目地是，不斷增長的生活預期和相對富裕程度可能才是印度大量婦女放棄工作的實際原因。

After calculating the labour forceparticipation ratesand educationalparticipation rates(young women in schools) the researchers believe that one plausible explanation for the drop in the participation rate among rural girls and women aged 15-24 is the recent expansion of secondary education and rapidly changingsocialnorms leading to "more working age young females opting to continue their education rather than join the labour force early".

在計算了勞動力參與率和教育參與率（學校中的年輕女性）後，研究人員認為，農村15到24歲女性就業率下降的可信解釋是近期擴大的中等教育和快速變化的社會規範，導致「更多的工作年齡年輕女性選擇繼續教育，而不是趁早加入勞動力大軍」。

The study says there has been a "larger response to income changes among the poor, rather than the wealthy, by sending children to school".

研究稱，通過送孩子上學，窮人而不是富人的收入變化反應更大。

Also, casual workers - mainly women - drop out of the workforce when wages increased for regular earners - mainly men - leading to the stabilisation of family incomes.

同時，主要是婦女充當的臨時工，在男性充當的正常賺錢者收入增加，使得家庭收入穩定時，也會放棄工作。

But dropping or opting out of the workforce to go to school and get an education may not ensure that these women will eventually go to work.

但是，放棄或選擇不工作去上學或者接受教育可能無法確保這些婦女最終會上班。

After studying the relationship with the female labour participation rate and levels of educational achievements, the researchers found that having a high school-level education was "not found to be an incentive for women" to work.

在研究完女性勞動就業率和教育水平的關係後，研究人員發現，擁有高學歷並不是促進女性工作的激勵。

The lowest rate of participation is among those who had secured school and high school education in the cities andvillages. And the rate isactuallyhighest among illiterates and college graduates.

就業率最低的是城市和農村中擁有高等教育的女性。文盲和大學畢業生的就業率最高。

To be sure, India has a poor record of female participation in the workforce: the International Labour Organisation ranked it 121 out of 131 countries in 2013, one of the lowest in the world.

可以確定地是，印度女性就業率記錄很差：2013年，國際勞工組織在131個國家中把它排在121位，世界最低的國家之一。

Also,Indiais not an outlier when it comes to women dropping out of the workforce.

此外，當談到女性放棄工作時，這在印度不是什麼離奇的事情。

Clearly women need better and more suitable job opportunities, outside agriculture. Rural labour markets need to offer jobs that are acceptable and attractive to women and their families.

顯然，除了農業，婦女需要更好和更合適的就業機會。農村勞動力市場需要為婦女及其家庭提供可接受和有吸引力的工作。

Also, as another study says, the "ongoing decrease in the availability of farm-based work, hasledto women focusing on economic activities within their households". Should home-based workers then be counted as members of the labour force?

此外，另一項研究還指出，「農業工作的可利用性持續下降，導致婦女關注家庭內部的經濟活動」。那麼家庭工作人員是否應該算作勞動力成員呢？

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