Hence the unravelling of working-class families. The two-parent family, still the norm among the elite, is vanishing among the poor. In rich countries the proportion of births outside marriage has trebled since 1980, to 33%. In some areas where traditional manufacturing has collapsed,it has reached 70% or more. Children raised in broken homes learn less at school, are more likely to drop out and earn less later on than children from intact ones. They are also not very good at forming stable families of their own.

　　因此工人阶级的家庭变的更易解体。双亲家庭这种形式还是精英阶层的标配，而这种家庭形式却在穷人中正在消失。在发达国家，非婚生子占新生儿的比重比1980年高出了3倍，已经达到了33%。而在一些传统制造业崩坏的地区，这一比例达到70%甚至更高。生活在破碎家庭里的孩子比起一般家庭的孩子而言，在学校里会学的更少，更可能辍学和收入较低。同时，因为不善于处理家庭问题，他们自己日后的家庭也趋于不稳定(简言之单亲家庭的孩子长大后更易于组成新的单亲家庭)。

　　These two sides often talk past each other. But their explanations are not contradictory: both economics and social change are to blame, and the two causes reinforce each other.Moreover, these problems are likely to get worse. Technology will disrupt more industries,creating benefits for society but rendering workers who fail to update their skills redundant.The OECD, a think-tank, predicts that the absolute number of single-parent households will continue to rise in nearly all rich countries. Boys who grow up without fathers are more likely tohave trouble forming lasting relationships, creating a cycle of male dysfunction.

　　这两种政治倾向的讨论话题往往会相互交叉重叠。但二者的观点却并不矛盾：经济状况和社会这二者的变革都是造成此类现状的原因，而这二者还互为因果，形成恶性循环。此外，这些问题可能变得更糟。科技将瓦解更多的行业，为社会创造更多的价值，但也将使更多的无法升级自身技能的劳动者失业。 经济合作与发展组织里的一个诸葛天团预测单亲家庭的比例定会继续在所有发达国家中上升。在没有父性角色的家庭长大的男孩，将更可能不能处理好长久关系(如夫妻关系)以至于形成新的单亲家庭，由此形成一个男性功能紊乱的死循环。

　　Tinker, tailor, soldier, hairdresser

　　锅匠，裁缝，士兵和美发师

　　What can be done? Part of the solution lies in a change in cultural attitudes. Over the past generation, middle-class men have learned that they need to help with child care, and have changed their behaviour. Working-class men need to catch up. Women have learned that they can be surgeons and physicists without losing their femininity. Men need to understand that traditional manual jobs are not coming back, and that they can be nurses or hairdressers without losing their masculinity.

　　那么问题来了，我们能做什么呢?其一在于改变文化态度。在过去的一代，中产阶层的男士知晓了他们需要帮忙照看小孩，并由此改变了他们的行为。工人阶层的男士们需要加紧脚步赶上来了。女士知晓了她们可以成为外科医师和物理学家而不失其女性魅力。男人们需要明白传统的体力工作一去不复返，他们可以成为护士或美发师而不失其男性霸气侧漏之美。

　　Policymakers also need to lend a hand, because foolish laws are making the problem worse.America reduces the supply of marriageable men by locking up millions of young males for non-violent of fences and then making it hard for them to find work when they get out (in Georgia,for example, felons are barred from feeding pigs, fighting fires or working in funeral homes). A number of rich countries discourage poor people from marrying or cohabiting by cutting their benefits if they do.

　　政府决策人也需搭把手，因为愚蠢的法令会令问题变得更糟。美国减少了对被关押的以百万数计的非暴力犯罪的处于适婚年龄的年轻男子的支持，并在他们出狱后找工作这种事上还要制绊脚石造(以乔治亚州为例，罪犯被禁止从事养猪，救火或在殡葬馆工作)。在一些发达国家，为了阻止穷人结婚或者同居这一目的，通过如果他们这么干的话就砍掉他们的福利这种手段来达到。

　　Even more important than scrapping foolish policies is retooling the educational system, which was designed in an age when most men worked with their muscles. Politicians need to recognise that boys' underachievement is a serious problem, and set about fixing it. Some sensible policies that are good for everybody are particularly good for boys. Early-childhood education provides boys with more structure and a better chance of developing verbal and social skills.Countries with successful vocational systems such as Germany have done a better job than Anglo-Saxon countries of motivating non-academic boys and guiding them into jobs, but policymakers need to reinvent vocational education for an age when trainees are more likely toget jobs in hospitals than factories.

　　不过比起废弃愚蠢的政策，改革设计于大多数男人都是用肌肉(而非脑)工作的年代的教育系统显得更为重要。政治家门应该意识到男孩们的学习成绩不良师一个很严峻的问题，并应立足于改善之。一些明智的政策是为每个人都好，特别是对男孩。早期儿童教育会提供男孩们更系统并更能更好的发展他们的口语能力和社会技能。有着成功的职业教育系统的国家如德国，在鼓励男孩去学术化，重职业化，并指导他们工作上，已经做的比起盎格鲁-撒克逊国家而言要好的多了。但政策制定者应将恢复职业教育的重心放在使受训者更倾向于日后在医院工作而不是在工厂工作这种时代要求上。

　　More generally, schools need to become more boy-friendly. They should recognise that boys like to rush around more than girls do: it’s better to give them lots of organised sports and energy-eating games than to dose them with Ritalin or tell them off for fidgeting. They need to provide more male role models: employing more male teachers in primary schools will both supply boys with a male to whom they can relate and demonstrate that men can be teachers as well as firefighters.

　　更广泛而言，学校需要变得更亲男孩化一些。他们应该意识到男孩比起女孩而言就是会更可能到处闯祸：比起给他们吃药或告诫他们不要乱动而言，最好还是提供给他们一些有组织的运动和耗费精力的游戏。他们需要男性榜样角色：在小学阶段，雇佣更多的男性教师，这不但可以给男孩子提供他们可以认同的男性角色，还可以为男人可以像成为消防员一样的成为教师提供实证。

　　The growing equality of the sexes is one of the biggest achievements of the post-war era:people have greater opportunities than ever before to achieve their ambitions regardless of their gender. But some men have failed to cope with this new world. It is time to give them a hand.

　　男女越来越平等是战后我们取得的重大成就之一：比起以前，现今人们不论性别都可以拥有更好的机会去实现他们的梦想。但是一些男士未能适应这个新的世界，是时候对他们伸出援手了。

　　【重点讲解】

　　1.learn to 得知;学会

　　例句:Eventually, you'll learn to cry that on the inside.

　　终有一天，你会学会让泪往心里流。

　　2.appear to 似乎;好像

　　例句:By all accounts, Rodger would appear to be afine fellow.

　　据说，罗杰是个好小伙。

　　3.plenty of 许多;大量的

　　例句:There were plenty of servants to wait on her.

　　有很多仆人服侍她。

　　4.likely to 倾向于;可能要

　　例句:The fires are likely to permanently deforest the land.

　　这些火灾很可能会彻底毁掉这片土地上的森林。

【英语阅读资料】这里有↑↑↑