中国网站品牌栏目（频道）
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 Trends: While it has been widely suspected that a generation of career women have ended up childless, this is the first research seeming to support this theory. |
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Almost half of a generation of university-educated women who put their career before a family are childless, a study has revealed. The women of Generation X were supposed to have it all; an education, a career and little pressure to have children. However, research from a New York think tank has suggested this generation might have had too much choice as many of them are childless, well into their 30s and 40s. Hoton the heels of the post-war baby boomers, Generation X - those born between 1965 and 1978 - were part of a new era which encouraged women to get an education and climb the career ladder. But now it would seem their choices to focus on work has left many of them without a family of their own, it has been reported. According to the Sunday Times, a study carried out by the Center for Work-Life Policy has revealed that 43 per cent of university-educated women from Generation X were child-free. This is despite about three-quarters of them being in long-term relationships and living with their partners. A total of 3,000 male and female graduates were interviewed in the U.S. by researchers. The team carried out further interviews in the UK too, and the results showed very similar trends in both countries. However, it is unclear why these women have opted out of having children, particularly as the majority of those interviewed were either married or cohabiting. Lauren Leader-Chivee, who carried out the study, said women in Generation X had mothers who were inspired by the feminist revolution and encouraged their daughters to aim high. She said many women in the 33 to 46 age group had also faced redundancy in the past, making them more flexible and career-focused. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一项研究揭示，受过大学教育、把事业看得比家庭重要的这一代女性中，近半数没有子女。 本以为X一代女性应该是拥有一切的：受过教育，拥有自己的事业，在生育孩子方面也没什么压力。 然而，纽约一个智囊团的研究表明，这一代女性可能因为可选择的太多了，所以许多人都三十好几甚至四十多岁了还没有孩子。 紧随战后婴儿潮一代之后的X一代是在1965年至1978年间出生的，这代人跨入了一个鼓励女性接受教育、发展事业的新时代。但据报道，这一代女性以工作为重心的选择如今似乎让她们当中的许多人都没能成立自己的家庭。 据《星期日泰晤士报》的报道，工作-生活政策中心开展的一项研究显示，X一代人中受过大学教育的女性有43%都没有孩子。 然而，她们当中约有四分之三的人都处于长期的感情关系中，并和伴侣生活在一起。 研究人员调查了美国3000名男女大学毕业生，随后在英国也展开了调查。调查结果显示两个国家的X一代都呈现出非常类似的趋势。 不过，研究人员不清楚为什么这些女性选择不生小孩，特别是在大部分受访女性都是已婚或同居的情况下。 开展这一研究的劳伦•里德-基维说，X一代女性的母亲曾受到女权主义革命的影响，鼓励女儿要胸怀大志。 她说，许多年龄在33岁至46岁之间的女性曾经经历过公司裁员，因此她们更能适应变动，也更注重事业。 相关阅读 （中国日报网英语点津 陈丹妮 编辑：冯明惠） |
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Vocabulary: well into: 早已进入 on the heels of: 紧跟在后面，紧随 baby boomers: 婴儿潮的一代（指美国1945-1960年间处于高生育率时期出生的人） opt out of: 决定退出；选择不参与 redundancy: the situation when somebody has to leave their job because there is no more work available for them （因劳动力过剩而造成的）裁员，解雇 |
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