中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
|
 Trends: While it has been widely suspected that a generation of career women have ended up childless, this is the first research seeming to support this theory. |
|
Almost half of a generation of university-educated women who put their career before a family are childless, a study has revealed. The women of Generation X were supposed to have it all; an education, a career and little pressure to have children. However, research from a New York think tank has suggested this generation might have had too much choice as many of them are childless, well into their 30s and 40s. Hoton the heels of the post-war baby boomers, Generation X - those born between 1965 and 1978 - were part of a new era which encouraged women to get an education and climb the career ladder. But now it would seem their choices to focus on work has left many of them without a family of their own, it has been reported. According to the Sunday Times, a study carried out by the Center for Work-Life Policy has revealed that 43 per cent of university-educated women from Generation X were child-free. This is despite about three-quarters of them being in long-term relationships and living with their partners. A total of 3,000 male and female graduates were interviewed in the U.S. by researchers. The team carried out further interviews in the UK too, and the results showed very similar trends in both countries. However, it is unclear why these women have opted out of having children, particularly as the majority of those interviewed were either married or cohabiting. Lauren Leader-Chivee, who carried out the study, said women in Generation X had mothers who were inspired by the feminist revolution and encouraged their daughters to aim high. She said many women in the 33 to 46 age group had also faced redundancy in the past, making them more flexible and career-focused. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一項研究揭示，受過大學教育、把事業(yè)看得比家庭重要的這一代女性中，近半數(shù)沒有子女。 本以為X一代女性應該是擁有一切的：受過教育，擁有自己的事業(yè)，在生育孩子方面也沒什么壓力。 然而，紐約一個智囊團的研究表明，這一代女性可能因為可選擇的太多了，所以許多人都三十好幾甚至四十多歲了還沒有孩子。 緊隨戰(zhàn)后嬰兒潮一代之后的X一代是在1965年至1978年間出生的，這代人跨入了一個鼓勵女性接受教育、發(fā)展事業(yè)的新時代。但據(jù)報道，這一代女性以工作為重心的選擇如今似乎讓她們當中的許多人都沒能成立自己的家庭。 據(jù)《星期日泰晤士報》的報道，工作-生活政策中心開展的一項研究顯示，X一代人中受過大學教育的女性有43%都沒有孩子。 然而，她們當中約有四分之三的人都處于長期的感情關系中，并和伴侶生活在一起。 研究人員調(diào)查了美國3000名男女大學畢業(yè)生，隨后在英國也展開了調(diào)查。調(diào)查結果顯示兩個國家的X一代都呈現(xiàn)出非常類似的趨勢。 不過，研究人員不清楚為什么這些女性選擇不生小孩，特別是在大部分受訪女性都是已婚或同居的情況下。 開展這一研究的勞倫?里德-基維說，X一代女性的母親曾受到女權主義革命的影響，鼓勵女兒要胸懷大志。 她說，許多年齡在33歲至46歲之間的女性曾經(jīng)經(jīng)歷過公司裁員，因此她們更能適應變動，也更注重事業(yè)。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：馮明惠） |
|
Vocabulary: well into: 早已進入 on the heels of: 緊跟在后面，緊隨 baby boomers: 嬰兒潮的一代（指美國1945-1960年間處于高生育率時期出生的人） opt out of: 決定退出；選擇不參與 redundancy: the situation when somebody has to leave their job because there is no more work available for them （因勞動力過剩而造成的）裁員，解雇 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
