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Britain Asian Muslim women
英国 亚裔穆斯林女性
All about taking part
全面参与
A hidden explanation for Britain’s surprising job numbers: Bangladeshi and Pakistani women are finally surging into the labour market
对英国令人惊讶的就业数字的深层解读：孟加拉国和巴基斯坦的女性最终进入劳动力市场
In an upstairs room at the Jagonari women’s centre in eastLondon, six women in colourful headscarves grin as an instructor enunciates simple English phrases from a whiteboard. The women are mostly new immigrants from Bangladesh, who are being taught English as part of the centre’s “positively integrated” programme. In other classes they will learn how to deal with doctors, police officers and council officials, how to use public transport and how to claim benefits. The idea is to help them find their way around British society—and eventually find jobs.
位于伦敦东区加各（Jagonari）妇女中心的一个楼上房间内，一个导师在白板前教单的英语词汇时6位带着彩色头巾的女性咧着嘴笑。这些女性主要是来自孟加拉国的新移民，她们学习英语是该中心“积极移民”的一部分。在其它课程中，她们将会学习如何与医生、警察、政府官员打交道，如何使用公共交通工具，如何申请救济金。这个计划是帮助她们如何适应英国社会—最终找到工作。
Britain’s 450,000 Bangladeshis and 1.1m Pakistanis, who began to arrive in large numbers in the 1960s and 1970s, suffer from a huge penalty that is partly self-imposed. Whereas Pakistani and Bangladeshi men have employment rates roughly comparable to black men, the women’s employment rate is around half that of other ethnic-minority women. Lack of a second income is the main reason why more than half of Bangladeshi and Pakistani families live below the official poverty line, and why so many rely on welfare payments to top up their income. The broader cost to Britainof the economic and social marginalisation of so much of its Muslim population is huge. Yet there are some encouraging signs of change.
英国的450,000孟加拉国人和110万的巴基斯坦人是在上世纪60、70年代大量涌入，他们遭受了巨大的遭难，部分是自身原因造成的。巴基斯坦、孟加拉国男性的就业率几乎和黑人一样，但女性的就业率差不多是其它少数民族的一半。缺少第二收入是一半以上的孟加拉国、巴基斯坦家庭生活在官方贫困下的主要原因，也是为什么如此多的家庭依赖社会福利增加救济金。穆斯林庞大的人口如此多，对经济和社会的边缘化，给英国造成了更大的成本。然而有一些鼓舞人心的现象改变。
A combination of traditional culture and modern prejudice keeps women out of work. Many still feel that it is the husband’s role to provide for the family. Even if they want to work, Bangladeshi and Pakistani women are often expected to do a lot of cleaning, cooking and taking care of children, which leaves little time for a job. Village habits die hard: married women still tend to move in with their in-laws, who sometimes jealously restrict their freedom. Staff at the Jagonari centre report encounters with women who are not allowed to learn to drive or even to leave home alone.
传统文化和现代歧视让女性不能工作，一些人仍然认为养家是丈夫的责任。即使她们想工作，孟加拉国和巴基斯坦的女生不能不做大量的清洗、烧饭、照顾小孩，剩下工作的时间就很少。陋习很难改掉：已婚女性通常和公婆住在一起，公婆有时会因嫉妒限制她们的自由。加各中心的工作人员报告称女性遭遇阻碍不允许学车，甚至不能单独出门。
Then there is an “ethnic penalty” in hiring. Some 30% of Bangladeshi women who want to work are unemployed. Even well-educated women with Islamic names can struggle to get interviews, says Shaista Gohir, a director at the Muslim Women’s Network. Many employers are reluctant to hire women they fear will leave to take care of children. For new migrants, meanwhile, poor English and weak formal education are huge barriers to work, crowding those women who do so into poorly-paid and menial jobs.
之后在雇佣上有“民族歧视”。一些想要工作的30%的孟加拉国女性失业。即使是受到良好教育的穆斯林名字的女性很难有面试，穆斯林女性网站做主管的谢思达-高赫尔说道。许多雇主不愿意聘用女性，担心她们因照顾小孩辞职。同时，对新移民来说，英语水平差，教育程度低也成为找工作的障碍，使这些女性集中在收入低不体面的工作种类中。
According to the Labour Force Survey, though, the number trying to find work is increasing surprisingly fast. Since 2008, whenBritainentered a deep recession, the proportion of Pakistani women active in the labour market has increased from 29% to 43%. For Bangladeshi women, the trend dates back further (see chart). Many have merely moved from complete inactivity to unemployment, but there have been sizeable jumps in the proportion who have jobs too. By contrast, the employment rate for white women, at around 68%, has barely changed. Among black African andCaribbeanwomen it has fallen.
据劳动人口调查报告统计，然而，出人意料的是努力找工作的人口数量迅速上升。2008年以来英国经济受到重创，活跃在劳动市场上的巴基斯坦女性比例从29%增长到43%。对孟加拉国的女性来说，这个趋势可以追溯到2008年之前。（见图表）许多多仅仅是从完全的不活跃状态到失业。但有工作的人的有很大的变动。相比之下，白人的就业率几乎没有改变，差不多是68%。非洲黑人和加勒比的女性就业率下降了。
Government policy probably explains some of this. Since 2005 new migrants have had to pass basic language and citizenship tests to get permanent leave to remain in theBritain, which has forced many new migrants to learn English. Tax credits—generous welfare payments linked to work—have encouraged women of all races to find jobs, especially those whose husbands earn little.
政府的政策可能解释了一些原因。2005年以来，新的移民不能不通过基本的语言和国籍身份考核才能获得在英国的永久居住权，这迫使一些新的移民学习英语。免税额度（工作中丰厚的社会福利）鼓励不同种族的女性找工作，尤其是丈夫工资少的女性。
Just as important, they are settling in. British-born Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are far more likely to be in work than new migrants. And the young generation is rising fast. “There has been a near total transformation of Bangladeshi girls” since 2001, argues Shamit Saggar of the University of Sussex. In the GCSE exams taken at the age of 16, Bangladeshi girls now outperform their white peers. Control for poverty, and they beat almost everyone. Pakistani girls have done less well—probably because they are less concentrated in London, where schools have improved most—but they have gained ground too. More of these well-educated second- and third-generation young women enter the labour force each year.
同样重要的是，新移民也做了准备。与其它新移民相比，英国出生的巴基斯坦和孟加拉国女性更愿意工作。并且年轻的一代也迅速增长。苏塞克斯大学的S.萨格（hamit Saggar）认为，自2001年来，孟加拉国的女孩有一个近乎全面的转换。对于16岁需考的英国普通中等教育证书中，现在孟加拉国的女孩比同龄的白种人表现优秀。在战胜贫穷上，她们也比任何人顽强。巴基斯坦的女孩表现较差，伦敦增长了最多的学校，可能是因为她们注意力不集中，但她们也获得了发展。每年，大多数受过良好教育的第二代第三代年轻女性进入劳动力市场。
Meanwhile there is growing awareness of the problems faced by first-generation immigrants. InBirmingham, the council is offering women help to start small businesses, reckoning that home work can fit more easily around family commitments. The Jagonari centre already runs two social enterprises doing similar work.
同时，第一代移民越来越意识到这个问题。在伯明翰，委员会给女性提供帮助让她们开办小型的企业，认为在家工作可以更容易的担负家庭的责任。加各（Jagonari）在已经有两个社会企业在做类似的工作。
The main worry, in austerity Britain, is the paucity of cash. Since 2011 English language classes have been free only to those claiming unemployment benefit, which excludes many women claiming other benefits. Welfare is also being squeezed—all benefits are due to rise by less than inflation until 2015. Unless more women go to work, Bangladeshi and Pakistani poverty rates are likely to spiral upwards. “There is so much frustrated ambition”, says Sultana Khanom, one of the workers at the Jagonari centre. It needs to be made use of.
对于实行紧缩政策的英国来说，最大的担心是资金不足。自2001年，只有领取失业救济金的才能免费上英语课，而领取其他救济金的不行。社会福利也正在减少，到2015年来所有的社会福利的增长速度都比通货膨胀慢。除非更多的女性去工作，不然孟加拉国和巴基斯坦的贫困率有可能飞速上升。加各中心一位工人Sultana Khanom认为有太多恐慌的野心抱负，需要好好工作。翻译：杨芸祯
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