每日英語跟讀 Ep.K522: 養小孩的方式不同於往、更加不易 How Parenting Today Is Different, and Harder

American parents are finding the job much harder than they expected, found a large new survey by Pew Research Center. And it’s not just how they feel — parenting is more demanding than it used to be, research has found.

美國民調機構「皮尤研究中心」一份新的大型民調發現，美國爸媽覺得養小孩遠比想像中困難。研究證實，這不僅是感覺，養小孩確實比過去來得更困難。

Eight in 10 parents of children younger than 18 find it to be enjoyable and rewarding most or all of the time, according to the new survey of 3,757 U.S. parents in that group. But two-thirds also say it’s harder than they thought it would be — including about one-third of mothers who say it’s a lot harder than they expected.

民調訪問了3757名家長。在小孩年齡低於十八歲的受訪家長中，八成表示養小孩大多時候或總是讓人感到愉快又有成就感，但其中三分之二也說，養小孩遠比想像中還要困難，包括近三分之一的媽媽們說，養小孩遠比預期困難非常多。

The findings reflect and build on other research. Today’s parents spend more time and money on their children than previous generations and feel more pressure to be hands-on.

這些發現是根據且反映了其他研究。現在的家長比過去幾代付出更多時間與金錢在小孩身上，且感受到更多壓力必須親自教養小孩。

The survey helps describe some of the particular ways in which parenting has become more demanding and stressful (one-third of respondents said it was that way all or most of the time).

這項民調有助描述某些特殊樣貌，讓養小孩更費力且壓力更大（三分之一的受訪者表示他們多半或總是有此感受）。

For one, mothers feel increasingly torn between their various roles. They have more options beyond motherhood, yet they still feel societal pressure to meet certain standards as mothers.

正因為如此，許多媽媽們在不同角色間感受到更強烈的拉扯。除了扮演媽媽，她們其實還有更多角色選項，但她們還是感受到社會壓力，必需符合某些當媽媽的標準。

In the Pew survey, just one-third of mothers said being a mother was the most important aspect of who they were as a person. Yet they also said they felt judged for their parenting, more than fathers were, and spent significantly more time than fathers on the physical and emotional labor of parenting.

皮尤研究指出，僅三分之一的媽媽表示，當媽媽是她們人生最重要的一個層面。但她們同時也覺得，在養小孩上，自己比爸爸們受到更多評判，因此也比爸爸們付出明顯更多的時間、體力與精神養小孩。

Low-income parents, and those who are Black or Hispanic, were most likely to say that being a parent was the most important thing about them. They were also more likely to say that parenting was enjoyable or rewarding most of the time.

低收入父母，以及非裔或西班牙裔，最有可能表示為人父母對他們而言是最重要的事。他們也最有可能表示養小孩大多時候很愉快且有成就感。

Also, research has found, today’s parents feel intense pressure to constantly teach and interact with their children,

另外，研究也發現，經常教導孩子以及與孩子互動讓現在的家長感到巨大壓力。

Often, Pew found, this means more emotional engagement. Nearly half said they were raising their children differently than they had been raised by their own parents. That meant less yelling, and more verbal affirmations, outward displays of affection and honest conversations about hard topics.

皮尤研究指出，這大多是因為他們在其中付出了更多心力。近半數受訪者表示，他們養小孩的方式與父母養育他們的方式不同：他們較少大吼，較常口頭鼓勵並表現出對孩子的愛，也更常與孩子誠實討論嚴肅的話題。

Another way parenting has become harder, according to the survey, is a new set of concerns about children’s well-being. Three-quarters of parents said they were worried their children would struggle with anxiety or depression, or face bullying.

根據這項研究，父母對孩子身心健全的一些新擔憂，也讓養小孩變難。四分之三受訪家長表示，他們擔心孩子出現焦慮、憂鬱等問題，或遭遇霸凌。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/6964380