疫情之下上班族育兒難

Working parents struggle
疫情之下上班族育兒難

A staggering 25 percent of working parents are considering giving up their jobs, or cutting down their hours, so they can better look after their offspring during the novel coronavirus lockdown, according to a new study.
新研究顯示，多達25%的上班族父母正在考慮放棄工作或削減工時，以便在新冠病毒封鎖期間更好地照顧自己的子女。

Researchers from Trinity McQueen market research company found 69 percent of working parents in the UK have struggled to balance their working lives with the demands of children who are spending long hours at home and who often need home schooling.
市場研究公司Trinity McQueen的研究人員發現，英國69%的上班族父母努力平衡自己的工作和孩子的需求，如今孩子在家呆的時間很長，而且經常需要在家上課。

Many parents said they could not find alternative childcare arrangements during the government-mandated lockdown aimed at restricting people-to-people contact and limiting the spread of COVID-19 disease.
許多父母表示，政府爲了限制人與人間的接觸、遏制新冠肺炎傳播實施強制性封鎖期間，他們找不到其他的育兒安排。

Simpson Millar, lawyers specializing in education issues, said the findings show a feared second wave of infections and a return to a full lockdown could have a disastrous effect on families that are already struggling to cope.
以教育問題見長的律師辛普森·米拉爾表示，調查結果顯示，令人擔心的第二波感染和全面封鎖可能會給那些本已不堪重負的家庭帶來災難性的影響。

Many parents feel alone because they have had little support from schools.
許多家長因爲得不到學校的支持而感到孤獨。

About 45 percent of the 1,001 parents who took part in the survey told researchers their mental health had been impacted by having their children at home for such a prolonged period.
1001名參與這項調查的家長中約有45%的人向研究者表示，孩子長期在家已令他們的心理健康受到影響。

Of those parents, 871 held down jobs.
這些家長中，有871人保住了職位。

About one-fifth said they did not hold out hope that their employer would help with childcare arrangements.
約1/5的家長表示他們對僱主幫忙解決育兒問題不抱希望。