In late March, last year, 2016, I became a parent for the first time. I remember the indescribable – and as I understand it pretty universal – experience of holding my week-old son and feeling my priorities change on a cellular level. Q; v" t7 b# N% L% A
2016年3月末，我初为人母。我还记得抱着我一周大的儿子时那种无法言喻的感受，我觉得生命中的头等大事从根本上发生了改变，我知道这是大家都有的感受。 * o: {0 d3 I8 g+ D1 | , I2 [1 g! P, z5 T- B
Like so many parents, I wondered how I was going to balance my work with my new role as a parent, and in that moment, I remember that the statistic for the US’s policy on maternity leave flashed in my mind. % }$ l* B- n& h4 t
American women are currently entitled to 12 weeks unpaid leave. American men are entitled to nothing.
目前，美国女性享有12周无薪产假的权利，而美国男性在这方面却什么都没有。
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由于美国产假是无薪的，所以给家庭造成很大的经济压力，很多女性不得不在孩子出生2周后就回归工作岗位。
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I remember thinking to myself, "If the practical reality of pregnancy is another mouth to feed in your home, and America is a country where most people are living paycheck to paycheck, how does 12 weeks unpaid leave economically work?"
One in four American women go back to work two weeks after giving birth because they can’t afford to take any more time off than that. That is 25 per cent of American women.
Equally disturbing, women who can afford to take the full 12 weeks often don’t, because it will mean incurring a “motherhood penalty” – meaning they will be perceived as less dedicated to their job and will be passed over for promotions and other career advancement.
In other words, in order to liberate women, we need to liberate men.
换言之，想要解放女性，我们也需要解放男性。
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Paid parental leave is not about taking days off work; it’s about creating the freedom to define roles, to choose how to invest time, and to establish new, positive cycles of behavior. ( m0 t7 v G4 Y- q& P
Maternity leave, or any workplace policy based on gender, can – at this moment in history – only ever be a gilded cage. Though it was created to make life easier for women, we now know it creates a perception of women as being inconvenient to the workplace. We now know it chains men to an emotionally limited path.
Paid parental leave does more than give more time for parents to spend with their kids. It changes the story of what children observe, and will, from themselves, imagine possible. % S5 G! f: ]+ B/ @6 X t
+ ^2 h; g! o- L/ a/ h: W7 CIn my own country, the United States – currently, the only high income country in the world without paid maternity, let alone parental leave., M! {" _ E" J, o
我的祖国美国，目前是世界上唯一一个没有女性带薪产假的高收入国家，更别提育婴双亲假了。3 D% i& T" i4 p9 C, L& Z1 s+ b
When women around the world demanded the right to vote, we took a fundamental step towards equality. North.
当全世界的女性要求投票权的时候，我们向平等迈出了基础性的一步。这就是方向。
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When same-sex marriage was passed in the US, we put an end to a discriminatory law. North.
当同性婚姻在美国获得批准的时候，我们为歧视性法律画上了句号。这就是方向。
9 P) W6 y' x; k% e; }When millions of men and boys, and prime ministers, and the President of the General Assembly, when men in this room and around the world – the ones we cannot see, the ones who support us in ways we cannot know but we feel – when they answered Emma Watson’s call to be HeForShe, the world grew. North. ! M; [9 ^. I# y* P
We must ask ourselves, how will we be more tomorrow than we are today?
我们必须要扪心自问，我们要怎样做才能让明天比今天更好？
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The whole world grows when people like you and me take a stand, because we know that beyond the idea of how women and men are different, there is a deeper truth that love is love, and parents are parents.
目前许多国家都提供带薪亲子假（paid parental leave），这部分费用一般由社保承担（funded by social insurance/social security），或采用雇主责任制（employer liability），有的国家则采用两种政策结合的做法。
% N8 z% C3 W7 _! g) w6 C9 m世界各地亲子假政策一览2 |8 I$ H# Q5 f4 K
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▌美国7 \' |/ H$ u# N* h7 }; @! f
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No paid parental leave; a maximum of 12 weeks' unpaid parental leave for mothers. " u+ j+ A' B. p, p: n- `* h
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无带薪亲子假；母亲最长可休12周的无薪亲子假。
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US is the only industrialized nation not to mandate paid leave for mothers of newborns.
美国是世界上唯一一个母亲无法享受带薪亲子假的工业化国家。
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▌英国
UK parents is able to share 52 weeks of parental leave, 39 of which are paid at 90% of your pay rate.7 j2 G8 a: m+ x' x2 n
英国父母可分享52周的亲子假，其中39周是带薪的，可拿到90%的薪水。
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▌瑞典
In Sweden, parents receive 480 days' leave – including 390 at around 80% of their salary – for each child, with 60 days reserved for each parent and the remaining 360 shared as the couple choose. 0 E$ g# T/ ~/ B$ T
In addition, you can reduce your working hours by 25% until your child is eight, providing an opportunity to balance work and life with a young child.
此外，返回工作岗位后每天工作时间减少25%，直到孩子八岁为止，让孩子还小的父母可以平衡工作和生活。
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▌捷克
The Czech Republic offers up to four years of parental leave, paid at between €600 and €400 a month, to "either or both" parents – although only one of them receives the benefit. n8 o8 n2 G1 w! i7 b7 P5 B Q) m0 d
捷克提供长达四年的亲子假，父母双方均可休，期间每月可领400-600欧，但只有一方可以领。
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▌日本
Japanese family leave consists of maternity and child-care leave. Maternity lasts for 14 weeks with 60% of the mother's usual salary. 9 r$ q5 N0 w$ J4 }
日本的家庭假包括产假和育婴假。母亲的产假14周，享受60%的工资。
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Childcare leave lasts 44 weeks and can be used by either parent with 30% of their usual salary.
育婴假44周，父母双方均可休，期间可拿30%的工资。
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▌中国
In China, a female employee may take a 98-day paid maternity leave at full salary.0 M* ] J( s ?# |) X) t- ^
中国女性员工以全额薪水享受98天产假。
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In addition, a female employee who gives birth to her first child at age 24 or older is regarded as a case of "late childbirth," and thereby will be entitled to an additional "late maternity leave" of roughly 30 days (this may vary widely by location).
24岁以后生育视为“晚育”，再增加30天左右“晚育假”（根据各地政策有差异）。
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世界上许多国家都提供人性化的带薪亲子假，为什么美国偏偏没有呢？
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其实这个问题没有那么简单，看看美国网友的评论就知道了。
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首先，带薪产假会让很多女性在找工作时面临歧视，这也是很多国家都存在的问题。
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非常重要！长期的带薪产假给了雇主歧视女性的理由。
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此外，这也牵涉到男性受到不平等待遇的问题…… % [8 ?* g; L7 C" N; \
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这个主意并不好。给了女性好处，对男性来说就不公平了。
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如果男性也参与进来呢？但美国社会似乎还不太认可男性休假带孩子。; h. m' R& P/ Y9 D9 Q- j4 u
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很多男性、女性和雇主仍然觉得当#奶爸#不够“男人”。
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她说的是事实。人们总是认为养育孩子跟男人无关。如果我们不认识到这种成见，就无法进步。
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有人认为，带薪亲子假对没有孩子的人不公平。
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不如直接惩罚没生孩子的员工得了？
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对于这个问题，有人提出用“家庭假”代替“亲子假”。
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不如直接“家庭假”呢。有些人要照顾老人，不是每个人都有孩子。 b9 o7 z: b" s N; i
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但是钱从哪来也是一个问题。4 b) I2 Z5 p6 ^' v/ E4 h
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是有意义的事，但是回避了一个很明显的问题：钱从哪来？资本主义社会不可能给你出钱的。变成社会主义国家吗？ 3 h7 a( M: n3 Z* C) y' l
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而且，美国人民认为养孩子是自己的事，自己应该负责，雇主或纳税人没有理由为你掏钱。
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小可爱，你想要孩子，还想让雇主掏钱……或许是我们纳税人掏钱，嗯……
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看了网友们的讨论，你有什么想法？亲子假应该怎么休才合理呢？欢迎支招。
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