Prime age just means that they're of working age.

適齡指的是她們正值勞動年齡。

Takes care of education decisions.

能為自己的教育做選擇。

Takes care of retirement decisions.

規劃退休的選擇。

Employment to population ratio means this is people among that age group who are either looking for work or have work.

就業人口比指的是在上述年齡層中正在找工作，或者已經有工作的人。

So this takes care of the problem that you have with the standard unemployment measure, where you're only looking at people who happen to be looking for work right now.

所以這就解決了標準失業衡量方法的缺失；後者只探討現階段正在找工作者。

So we're looking at this measure for three countries over time.

我們現在要來看的是隨著時間變化，三個國家的女性適齡就業人口比。

Up here we have Sweden.

最上面這裡是瑞典。

It's not really fair.

這不太公平。

They're incredibly enlightened in terms of their family leave policies.

談到家庭照顧政策，他們可是驚人地開明。

They've had them since 1900.

從 1900 年就開始運作了。

They've had maternal and paternal leave since 1974.

打從 1974 年就有產假、陪產假。

But we have to have them up there because they are the gold standard for this measure.

但我們還是得納入討論，因為瑞典是此指標的黃金標準。

Then you have the United States.

再來這條是美國。

We're going to come back to the US in a second.

我們稍後再回來談美國。

And then down here at the very beginning, you have Canada.

再來下面這裡的端點是加拿大。

As you can see, these measures change over time.

你可以看得出來，這些數值隨著時間改變。

Why is it important to take a look at this?

為什麼這個圖表值得一看呢？

First of all, fairness matters.

首先，平等很重要。

That is a worthy policy goal.

平等是值得努力的政策目標。

Ok. But also overall, particularly in the United States, the share of workers in prime age overall has been falling.

此外整體來看，適齡勞動參與率正在下滑，美國尤其嚴重。

Men have been leaving the workforce for a couple of different reasons.

在不同因素考量下，部分男性持續離開職場。

But women have not been replacing them at the same rate that they used to.

而女性回去填補空位的速度卻不若以往快速。

This is a problem for the United States beyond basic fairness.

對美國而言這不只是基本平等的問題。

Because if you have more workers, then your potential GDP is higher.

因為當勞工愈多，可能創造出的 GDP 也會愈高。

It's not just about fairness, it's also about growth.

不但牽涉到平等，還關係到經濟成長。

What affects this measure?

哪些因素會左右此測量結果呢？

Some of it is just cultural.

有些是文化上的問題。

In some countries, it is considered more important for women to stay at home with the children.

在某些國家裡，女性較重要的職責是留在家裡帶小孩。

Very difficult to change culture with policy.

想用政策來改變文化相當困難。

It is also cyclical.

同時數據也會呈現週期性變化。

Right here at the height of the euro crisis and at the tail end of the financial crisis.

這邊是歐債危機的高峰，以及金融海嘯的尾端。

We see that this measure dropped for all three countries.

我們看到三個國家的數值都下降了。

It dropped more precipitously for the United States, but it dropped everywhere.

在美國幅度較大，不過各地的數值都下降了。

When there are fewer jobs to be had, people make different decisions about whether they want to be in the workforce or not.

當職缺變少，人們就會重新思考是否要留在職場。

But it also can be affected by policy.

而政策也會造成影響。

Policy matters.

政策很重要。

And we'll show you why.

我們來看看為什麼。

In 2000, the United States was seventh in this measure Prime Age Epop for Women.

2000 年的時候，美國在女性適齡就業人口比中排名第 7。

By 2017, United States was 22nd.

到了 2017 年，美國排名第 22。

So something happened.

一定發生了什麼事情。

Let's take Canada as an example.

我們來看加拿大這個例子。

In 2001, they changed their family leave policy.

在 2001 年，他們改變了家庭照顧政策。

So it used to be that women could get 10 weeks off after having a child.

以前女性生產完後可以放 10 週的假。

After 2001, that was extended to 35 weeks, and it applied to women and men.

2001 年之後，延長到 35 週，而且男性、女性都可以申請。

You can see the difference right here.

這之間的差別顯著可見。

So there are a couple of other policy measures that will make a difference in Prime Age Epop for Women.

還有其他幾項政策措施會影響到適齡女性就業人口比。

So leave policies make a difference.

所以照顧政策是一項變動因素。

Also, about a third of the countries in the OECD offer the right to negotiate for part-time work.

除此之外，在三分之一的經合組織成員國裡，女性有權協商兼職工作。

If you can work part time when you have young children, it makes the decision to stay in the workforce a lot easier.

當你可以一邊撫養小孩、一邊兼職工作，留在職場的決定就會變得更簡單。

Also, the United States spends about a quarter of the OECD average on support for childcare.

另外美國在兒童照護福利上所花的金額只有經合組織平均的四分之一。

Obviously, this is incredibly important as well.

這點當然也非常有影響力。

If the feds are helping you take care of your kids during the day, it definitely changes the decision on childcare.

如果政府能在日間幫忙照顧小孩，這絕對會影響兒童照護的安排。

So this measure, working age women in the workforce, is cultural, it is cyclical, but it is also fixable.

因此這項關於適齡勞動女性的衡量結果，即便牽扯到文化因素和景氣循環，它也是可以解決的。

Disclosure, I have four kids and I have a wife who works and has much nicer hair than what I've drawn here.

公開秘密時間。我有四個小孩，還有一位妻子在工作，她的頭髮比我畫得好多了。

So I'm invested in this policy outcome.

所以說我也等著看這項政策結果。