Gender budgeting--The fiscal mystique

来源: http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21717404-designing-fiscal-policies-support-gender-equality-good-growth-why

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gender ['dʒendə] n. 性;性别;性交 vt. 生
Take your age and gender into account. 把你的年龄和性别考虑进去。
budgeting ['budʒitiŋ]
n. 编制预算
v. 做预算(budget 的 ing 形式)
And each and every practice describes how it supports budgeting. 而每个实践都 述了它如何支持预算。
fiscal ['fɪsk(ə)l]
adj. 会计的，财政的;国库的
The accountants audited the company’s books at the end of the fiscal year. 财政年度结束时，会计师们审查公司的账册。
mystique [mɪ'stiːk] n. 奥秘，秘诀;神秘性
In that way he maintains a certain mystique.And she, too. 这样一来他还有她都保有了一定的神秘性。

Designing budgets to support sexual equality is good for growth.

[1] LIKE many rich-country governments, Britain’s prides itself on pursuing policies that promote sexual equality. However, it fails to live up to its word, argues the Women’s Budget Group, a feminist think tank that has been scrutinising Britain’s economic policy since 1989. A report in 2016 from the House of Commons Library, an impartial research service, suggests that in 2010-15 women bore the cost of 85% of savings to the Treasury worth £23bn ($29bn) from austerity measures, specifically cuts in welfare benefits and in direct taxes. Because women earn less, rely more on benefits, and are much more likely than men to be single parents, the cuts affected them disproportionately.

tank [tæŋk]
n. 坦克;水槽;池塘
vt. 把...贮放在柜内;打败 vi. 乘坦克行进
Tech stocks have tanked.
科技股票已经表现得很糟糕了。
scrutinise ['skruːtɪnaɪz]
vi. 作仔细检查;细致观察
vt. 细看;仔细观察或检查;核对(等于 scrutinize)
A month earlier he had promised Kraft that the British government would scrutinise aforeign buyer to
ensure that “respect” was paid to Cadbury’s proud heritage.
一个月以前，他向卡夫公司承诺英国政府会仔细审查一个外国收购者以确保尊重吉百利公司骄傲的遗产。
impartial [ɪm'pɑːʃ(ə)l]
adj. 公平的，公正的;不偏不倚的
He is an impartial judge. 他是一位公正的法官。
austerity [ɒ'sterɪtɪ; ɔː-] n. 紧缩;朴素;苦行;严厉
We have entered the Age of Austerity. 我们已经进入厉行紧缩的时代。
welfare ['welfeə]
n. 福利;幸福;福利事业;安宁 adj. 福利的;接受社会救济的
The subject touches our welfare. 这题目关系到我们的福利。
disproportionately [,disprə'pɔ:ʃənitli] adv. 不成比例地
Moreover, the money during this era circulated disproportionately into property. 此外，在这一时期，货币大量流向房地产。
长难句:
A report in 2016 from the House of Commons Library, an impartial research service, suggests that in 2010-15 women bore the cost of 85% of savings to the Treasury worth £23bn ($29bn) from austerity[ɒˈsterəti]measures, specifically cuts in welfare benefits and in direct taxes. 句子架构分析:
这句话很复杂，一步步来分析一下，a report 名词放在句首作主语，in 2016 介词短语修饰语， from the House of Commons Library 介词短语修饰语，扩掉，紧接着两个逗号中间的插入语 an impartial research service 是 the House of Commons Library 的同位语，紧接着谓语动词出现 是 suggests，宾语是 that 引导的宾语从句。所以句子主干部分就是讲 a report suggests that。 一项报告表明了事情，首先看报告的修饰语中出现了 the House of Commons Library，是下议 院图书馆的一项报告~
这里多说一句，大家都清楚英国议会分为上议院(house of lords)和下议院(house of commons)，以及国王构成，单从名称上来看，似乎上议院是都是王公贵族，区别于 lords， 下议院都是庶民，但其实 commons 这个词并不是普通大众的意思，而是源于诺曼法语的 “communes”，意指议员们所代表的社区。如今，下议院的权利要远远的高于上议院，一旦 首相失去了下议院的支持，就得下野，而这句话中 到的下议院图书馆呢，句子中其实也有
对它的进一步解释，an impartial research service ~
还是回到这个句子中，2016 年下议院图书馆，一个中立机构，它的一项报告显示， 核心内 容还得看宾语从句内部。
宾语从句架构分析:
从句内部，in 2010-15 是时间状语，句子的主干是 women bore the cost 其中 of 85% of savings to the Treasury 介词短语修饰 cost, 其中 85% of 是数字修饰 savings to the Treasury 国库储蓄， 来说明女性承担了国库储蓄 85%的代价。worth £23bn ($29bn)说明其总金额，后面 from austerity[ɒˈsterəti]measures 这个介词短语说明这些钱来自于财政紧缩措施，后面 specifically cuts in welfare benefits and in direct taxes.名词cuts作为austerity[ɒˈsterəti]measures的同位语， 具体说明到底采用了哪些财政紧缩措施。
大意:
整个句子分析完了，句子含义也清楚了一些:国库通过财政紧缩措施搞到的钱 230 亿英镑的 85%的代价都是女性承担的，而国库采取的紧缩措施是削减福利费以及所得税。

[2] The government does not set out to discriminate, says Diane Elson, the budget group’s former chair. Rather, it overlooks its own bias because it does not take the trouble to assess how policies affect women. Government budgets are supposed to be “gender-neutral”; in fact they are gender-ignorant. Ms Elson is one of the originators of a technique called “gender budgeting”—in which governments analyse fiscal policy in terms of its differing effects on men and women. Gender budgeting identifies policies that are unequal as well as opportunities to spend money on helping women and which have a high return. Britain has declined to adopt the technique, but countries from Sweden to South Korea have taken it up.

discriminate [dɪ'skrɪmɪneɪt] vi. 区别;辨别
vt. 歧视;区别;辨别
I can discriminate right from wrong. 我能辨别是非。
bias ['baɪəs]
n. 偏见;偏爱;斜纹;乖离率 adj. 偏斜的
vt. 使存偏见
adv. 偏斜地
Don't let her insults bias you against your husband. 别让她的辱骂使你对你丈夫抱有偏见。
assess [ə'ses]
vt. 评定;估价;对...征税
If so, how do we assess it? 如果是，我们如何评价它?
neutral ['njuːtr(ə)l]
n. 中立国;中立者;非彩色;齿轮的空档
adj. 中立的，中性的;中立国的;非彩色的 You cannot be completely neutral in this world.
在此世间，你无法做到绝对的中立。
ignorant ['ɪgn(ə)r(ə)nt] adj. 无知的;愚昧的
The intensely critical spirit is often the narrow-minded and ignorant one. 极爱吹毛求疵的人往往是心胸狭窄和无知的人。
originator [ə'rɪdʒɪneɪtə(r)] n. 发起人;起源;起因
It shows details such as the originator the task and the people who can work on it. 其中显示一些细节，比如任务的发起人以及处理它的人员。

[3] Ms Elson and her colleagues argue that, once you breakdown public spending, the opportunities stand out. For instance, if the British government diverted investment worth 2% of GDP from construction to the care sector, it could create 1.5m jobs instead of 750,000. Many governments treat spending on physical infrastructure as an investment, but spending on social infrastructure, such as child care, as a cost. Yet such spending also increases productivity and growth—partly by increasing the number of women in the workforce.

divert [daɪ'vɜːt; dɪ-]
vt. 转移;使...欢娱;使...转向 vi. 转移
They want to divert the attention of the people from the real issues.
他们想把人民的注意力从真正的问题上转移开。
sector ['sektə]
n. 部门;扇形，扇区;象限仪;函数尺 vt. 把...分成扇形
But, it is the public sector research that will have to be proven, or die from lack ofimpact. 但是，现在是公共部门研究需要被证明，否则它将会因为缺乏影响力而消亡。
infrastructure ['ɪnfrəstrʌktʃə] n. 基础设施;公共建设;下部构造
How should you modify your infrastructure? 您应该怎样调整基础结构?
workforce ['wɜːkfɔːs]
n. 劳动力;工人总数，职工总数
Women over 50, the first generation to have a majority in the workforce, see farmore discrimination in every area of life than younger women.
超过 50 岁的女性在第一代的劳动力中占大多数在生活中的每个领域都比年轻女性受到更多的歧视。
[4] In poorer countries, the bias can be more explicit. When Uganda first looked at its budget through a gender lens, it discovered that little of the
spending on agriculture was going to support women farmers, though they did
most of the work.
explicit [ɪk'splɪsɪt; ek-]
adj. 明确的;清楚的;直率的;详述的
He avoids the explicit answer to us. 他避免给我们明确的回答。
lens [lenz]
n. 透镜，镜头;眼睛中的水晶体;晶状体;隐形眼镜;汽车的灯玻璃 vt. 给......摄影
The lens of the eye accommodate to distance.
眼球晶状体能根据距离进行调节。
长难句:
When Uganda first looked at its budget through a gender lens, it discovered that little of the spending on agriculture was going to support women farmers, though they did most of the work. 句子架构分析:
这句话的核心是什么?主句 it discovered that 对吧，前面是 when 引导的状语从句，而主句 it discovered that 的 that 从句内部是一个复合句结构。
宾语从句分析:
that 从句内部也就是一个主句+ though 引导的让步状语从句，核心是 little of the spending on agriculture was going to support women farmers 整个句子架构复杂但是并不难理解， 大意: 当乌干达从性别角度评估其预算系统时，发现农业上的投入只有很小的一部分会支持女性农 民，尽管女性农民做了大部分的工作

[4] In poorer countries, the bias can be more explicit. When Uganda first looked at its budget through a gender lens, it discovered that little of the spending on agriculture was going to support women farmers, though they did most of the work.

explicit [ɪk'splɪsɪt; ek-]
adj. 明确的;清楚的;直率的;详述的
He avoids the explicit answer to us. 他避免给我们明确的回答。
lens [lenz]
n. 透镜，镜头;眼睛中的水晶体;晶状体;隐形眼镜;汽车的灯玻璃 vt. 给......摄影
The lens of the eye accommodate to distance.
眼球晶状体能根据距离进行调节。
长难句:
When Uganda first looked at its budget through a gender lens, it discovered that little of the spending on agriculture was going to support women farmers, though they did most of the work. 句子架构分析:
这句话的核心是什么?主句 it discovered that 对吧，前面是 when 引导的状语从句，而主句 it discovered that 的 that 从句内部是一个复合句结构。
宾语从句分析:
that 从句内部也就是一个主句+ though 引导的让步状语从句，核心是 little of the spending on agriculture was going to support women farmers 整个句子架构复杂但是并不难理解， 大意: 当乌干达从性别角度评估其预算系统时，发现农业上的投入只有很小的一部分会支持女性农 民，尽管女性农民做了大部分的工作

[5] What may sound simply like feminism infiltrating fiscal policy is thus also about efficiency. Gender budgeting is good budgeting, argues Janet Stotsky, who led an IMF survey of such efforts around the world. You don’t have to be a feminist to accept that investing in girls’ education or in women’s labour-force participation will generate a high return on investment.

feminism ['femɪnɪz(ə)m]
n. 女权主义;女权运动;男女平等主义 Who was the leader of feminism?
谁是女权主义的领导人?
infiltrating [in'filtreitiŋ]
v. 渗透;浸润(infiltrate 的 ing 形式) adj. 浸润的;浸润性的
Make up, perfume and skincare products used after the expiry date carry a risk ofirritation and infection, Debenhams said. This is due to air and bacteria infiltrating the products. 由于空气和细菌渗透原因，化妆品、香水和护肤品在截止日期后使用会有带有刺激性和感染的风险，德本 汉姆公司说。
participation [pɑː,tɪsɪ'peɪʃn] n. 参与;分享;参股
I will do my best to stave off his participation. 我会尽力阻止他的参与。
长难句:
You don’t have to be a feminist to accept that investing in girls’ education or in women’s labour-force participation will generate a high return on investment.
句子架构分析:
这里出现句型 you don’t have to be ···to do sth，在这里其实就是你不需要是一个女权主 义者，就可以接受或者理解一个事实。
这句中的句型 you don’t have to be ···to do sth 其实很常见，也很方便使用，类似让步， 比如刚刚那句话，使用让步表达的话，就是 Although you are not a feminist, still you will know that investing····，再比如:you don’t have to be a star to realize fat will never work in fashion。 不是明星，也应该知道胖是时尚的绝缘体。或者:you don’t have to be a grown man to be polite。 什么意思，未成年就能不懂礼貌哇~
从句架构分析:
that investing in girls’ education or in women’s labour-force participation will generate a high return on investment.
从句主语是 investing in girls’ education or in women’s labour-force participation，从句谓语 will generate，宾语 a high return on investment。
大意:
你不需要是一个女权主义者，就可以接受或者理解一个事实，这个事实就是投资女孩的教育 或者女性的劳动参与会产生很高的投资回报。

[6] Such a utilitarian approach appeals to finance ministries in a way that pious talk of “women’s empowerment” may not. Ministries can fail to grasp how their budgets affect women and girls. In developing countries, for instance, investment in clean water and electricity eases housework, freeing time for mothers to earn money and for girls to go to school. Cutting funding may save money in the short term, but when women spend their days fetching water, growth suffers.

utilitarian [jʊ,tɪlɪ'teərɪən]
n. 功利主义者
adj. 功利的;功利主义的;实利的
Efficiency, therefore, can never serve as a utilitarian touchstone for law or for publicpolicy. 因此，效率绝不能作为法律或公共政策的功利主义标准。
ministry ['mɪnɪstrɪ] n. (政府的)部门
Under the ministry there are six departments.
部下面设 6 个司。
pious ['paɪəs]
adj. 虔诚的;敬神的;可嘉的;尽责的
That may be no more than another pious wish.
那可能只是另一种虔诚的愿望。
empowerment [im'pauəmənt] n. 许可，授权
We have to look at our whole culture of electronic empowerment. 我们必须从电子授权的整个文化氛围来看待这件事。
fetching ['fetʃɪŋ]
adj. 迷人的;动人的;吸引人的
I remember him fetching you lemonade. 我记得他给你拿了柠檬汽水。

[7] There are plenty of examples of the idea in action. In Rwanda spending aimed at keeping girls in school—such as providing basic sanitation—has led to higher enrolment. In India the use of gender budgeting in a state is a better indicator of girls’ school attendance than higher incomes. In South Korea a lack of child care has forced women to choose between work and family. Both female labour-force participation and fertility rates are low—a poor formula for growth in an ageing country. Gender budgeting helped the government design programmes to reduce the burden of care on women. Around the world, safer transport systems can ease the vast, often unseen, burden of violence against women and girls—in medical costs, and lost productivity and labour, as they are prevented from working or learning.

sanitation [sænɪ'teɪʃ(ə)n]
n. [医] 环境卫生;卫生设备;下水道设施
We have programs for clean water and sanitation. 我们有清洁饮用水和卫生规划。
enrolment [ɪn'rəʊlm(ə)nt] n. 登记，注册;入学
Primary school enrolment will peak this year. 今年小学入学人数将达到最高峰。
fertility [fə'tɪlɪtɪ; fɜː'tɪlɪtɪ]
n. 多产;肥沃;[农经] 生产力;丰饶
This is according to a study published in the journal “Fertility and Sterility, ” althoughresearchers have no idea why.
这一数据根据的是发表在“生育与不孕”期刊的一项研究，虽然研究者不知道为什么。
ease [iːz]
n. 轻松，舒适;安逸，悠闲
vt. 减轻，缓和;使安心
vi. 减轻，缓和;放松;灵活地移动
He is at ease about the matter. 他对这事很放心。
长难句:
Around the world, safer transport systems can ease the vast, often unseen, burden of violence against women and girls—in medical costs, and lost productivity and labour, as they are prevented from working or learning.
句子架构分析:
介词短语永远是修饰语，删掉不影响句子主架构。句子的主干是 safer transport systems can ease the vast burden
破折号后分析:
破折号后面是并列结构 in medical costs, and lost productivity and labour，这两项都是解释说 明前面的 burden 的。
大意: 主干的意思就是安全的交通体系能够缓解妇女和女孩遭遇暴力情况所带来的巨大负担。破折 号表示解释说明，解释妇女和女孩到底缓解了哪些 burden，medical costs，医疗花费，还有 就是因为交通不安全被阻止工作或者接受教育所造成的生产力及劳动力损失~

[8] Gender budgeting has won the backing of international financial institutions. Ms Elson once took the IMF and the World Bankto task for their bias, arguing that austerity forced on countries seeking funds in the 1980s imposed heavy burdens on women. Now the World Bank backs gender budgeting. The IMF used not to see promoting sexual equality as its job, but Christine Lagarde, its managing director, now wants gender-budgeting to play a role in the advice it gives to member countries.

[9] Not everything has gone well for gender budgeting, however. Some initiatives have proved half-hearted, short-lived or prey to party politics. Egypt introduced the concept in 2009, encouraged by international donors; when the donors left, it petered out. Australia was the first country to have gender budgeting. But today’s conservative government saw it as left-leaning and anti-austerity and dropped it in 2014, the year after it took office.

prey [preɪ]
n. 捕食;牺牲者;被捕食的动物 vi. 捕食;掠夺;折磨
The lion bounded on the prey. 那头狮子向猎物猛扑过去。
peter ['piːtə]
vi. 逐渐消失;耗尽 vt. 使...精疲力竭 n. 麻醉品;保险箱
Peter drew him into the argument. 彼得拉他参加辩论。
conservative [kən'sɜːvətɪv] n. 保守派，守旧者
adj. 保守的
He listed himself as a conservative. 他自称是一个保守主义者。

Going by the numbers

[10] Other countries have issued sexual-equality statements and begun tracking data, but have not changed budget allocations. Much of their reluctance can be put down to bureaucratic inertia—and the sheer difficulty of the process of tracking who gets what. Fiscal policy is based on the market economy, which generates cash, and ignores women’s unpaid labour, and the extent to which it limits their work in the market economy. Rather than rethink the system, governments rely on equal-opportunity laws to cut inequality—though the evidence is that they do not.

allocation [ælə'keɪʃ(ə)n]
n. 分配，配置;安置
But allocation is only half of memory management -- deallocation is the other half.
但是分配仅仅是内存管理的一半，回收是另一半。
bureaucratic [,bjɔːrə'krætɪk; ,bjʊərə'krætɪk] adj. 官僚的;官僚政治的
But the months of bureaucratic delay bothered him, not only for the sake of his clients and their case, but for the cops who had come after him. 但是数月的官僚耽搁着实让他烦恼，问题不只是在委托人和案件本身，还有那些整天跟他玩捉迷藏的小偷 小摸。
inertia [ɪ'nɜːʃə]
n. [力] 惯性;惰性，迟钝;不活动
Inertia carried the car to the pavement. 惯性使汽车驶到了人行道上。
sheer [ʃɪə]
n. 偏航;透明薄织物
adj. 绝对的;透明的;峻峭的;纯粹的 vt. 使偏航;使急转向
adv. 完全;陡峭地
vi. 偏航
It would be downright [sheer] madness to do such a thing. 做这种事纯粹是发疯。
长难句:
Fiscal policy is based on the market economy, which generates cash, and ignores women’s unpaid labour, and the extent to which it limits their work in the market economy.
句子架构分析:
这句话的核心就是 Fiscal policy is based on the market economy and ignores A and B,财政政策 基于市场经济，后面都是在说市场经济，which generates cash 定语从句修饰 market economy, 并列结构分析:
最这句话的理解最主要在于最后 fiscal policy ignores A and B 这里 and 并列的到底是什么。永 远要记得，and 并列的前后内容应该是平行的，什么意思呢?前后的语法功能应该相同，这 里面其实 labour 和 the extent 都是 ignore 的宾语，而中间的 and 呢，链接的是 is based on 和 ignores，语法功能是什么，都是谓语动词对吧~搞清楚这一点，句子的框架就十分清晰了。 大意: 财政政策都是基于市场经济的，市场经济产生现金流，财政政策忽视妇女的无偿劳动以及其 限制妇女劳动的程度。

[11] Professing loyalty to an idea is easier than acting on its implications. “Everyone is keen to take on gender equality if it only means marginal changes,” says Ms Elson. “Root-and-branch changes to thinking about how the fiscal system supports gender equality are much more difficult.”

marginal ['mɑːdʒɪn(ə)l] adj. 边缘的;临界的;末端的
But I never questioned his history of marginal employment again. 但我没有再问过他的边缘就业经历了。

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