来源：《哈佛商业评论》2023年7月8月双月刊
Researchers have expended considerable effort trying to understand the persistent lag in women’s earnings relative to men’s. Here’s another contributing factor: summer. A new study quantifies the differential impact of school vacation closures on men and women in the U.S. workforce.
研究人员花费了大量精力试图了解女性收入相对于男性的持续滞后。还有一个促成因素：夏天。一项新的研究量化了学校放假对美国劳动力中男性和女性的不同影响。
The researchers analyzed data gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey, starting with the survey’s inception, in 1989, and concluding in 2019. This showed that from May to July each year, the employment-to-population ratio among women dropped by an average of 1.1 percentage points, while the same ratio among men rose slightly. And the total time worked by women fell by an average of three hours per week, or 11%. That was twice as large as the decline experienced by men.
研究人员分析了劳工统计局当前人口调查收集的数据，从1989年调查开始到2019年结束。数据表明，从每年的5月到7月，女性的就业人口比例平均下降1.1个百分点，而男性的就业人口比例则略有上升。女性每周的总工作时间平均减少了3小时，降幅为11%。这一降幅是男性的两倍。
Those patterns track with state-by-state differences in the timing of summer breaks, and the declines in employment are concentrated among women with young school-age children; many of those women shift in summer months from employment to childcare. Women are disproportionately represented in educational services, the researchers note, and employment opportunities in those sectors contract sharply during the summer. The data showed that mothers tend to enter the field when their youngest children are old enough to attend school—evidence that many are choosing education-related jobs in part for the summertime flexibility they offer, often sacrificing higher compensation elsewhere.
这些模式与各州在暑假时间上的差异一致，就业率的下降主要集中在有年幼学龄儿童的女性身上；这些女性中的许多人在夏季从工作转到照顾孩子。研究人员指出，女性在教育服务行业的比例过高，而这些行业的就业机会在夏季急剧收缩。数据显示，当她们最小的孩子到了上学的年龄时，母亲们往往会进入这一领域——这表明，许多母亲选择与教育相关的工作，部分原因是它们提供的夏季灵活性，这往往会牺牲从其他行业获得的更高的薪酬。
“The heavy imprint of school summer breaks on female labor force participation, employment, and earnings highlights the potential need for policy solutions to alleviate the remaining barriers to women’s equal participation in the labor force,” the researchers write. “Options such as extending the school year, providing universal access to summer school, or increasing federal support for summer childcare could simultaneously address both labor market and educational implications of summer school closures.”
研究人员写道：“学校暑假对女性劳动力参与、就业和收入的严重影响，突显出可能需要制定政策解决方案，以减轻女性平等参与劳动力的剩余障碍。”“延长学年、普及暑期学校或增加联邦政府对暑期儿童保育的支持等选择，可以同时解决暑期学校关闭对劳动力市场和教育的影响。”