Episode Details

Research shows that 15 years after college, US mothers earn 11% less than women without children and 42% less than fathers. This is called the “motherhood penalty.”

研究显示，在大学毕业 15 年后，美国母亲的收入比没有孩子的女性低 11%，比父亲（有孩子的男性）低 42%。这种现象被称为“母职惩罚”（motherhood penalty）。

Many women who became mothers told The New York Times that having kids forced them to leave careers or take part-time jobs. Child care was too expensive, and some had children with special needs. One woman said motherhood should come with a warning label. Another said she lost 750,000 dollars in potential earnings. Mothers said they were tired, stressed, and left out of promotions or special projects. While men with kids often advanced, women with kids disappeared from the workplace. Many stopped saving for retirement or lost job benefits like pensions and Social Security. Some felt trapped, dependent on their husbands, or scared for the future. Others couldn’t return to work even with degrees and experience. Still, most said having children was worth it. They just didn’t expect the financial and emotional cost to be so high.

许多成为母亲的女性向《纽约时报》表示，生育孩子迫使她们离开原本的职业，或只能从事兼职工作。育儿成本过于高昂，而有些人的孩子还有特殊照护需求。一位女性说，“成为母亲应该附带一张警示标签。” 另一位则表示，自己因此损失了约 75 万美元的潜在收入。许多母亲表示，她们长期感到疲惫、压力沉重，并且在职场中经常被排除在晋升机会或重要项目之外。相比之下，有孩子的男性往往能够继续获得晋升，而有孩子的女性却逐渐从职场中消失。许多人不得不停止为退休储蓄，或失去了养老金、社会保障等工作福利。有些人感到被现实困住，不得不依赖丈夫生活，或对未来充满担忧；还有一些人即使拥有大学学历和丰富的工作经验，也无法重返职场。尽管如此，大多数受访者仍表示，拥有孩子依然是值得的。只是她们从未预料到，为人母所付出的经济代价和心理压力竟会如此巨大。