Mothers in the US military are stressed, poorly paid and need more help caring for their children, according to a report issued by Congress on Friday.
Nearly half of all women in the active-duty military have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and 24,475 women are there now, the report by the Joint Economic Committee said.
Yet child care services are not keeping up with longer and more frequent deployments, said the report, released to coincide with Mothers' Day in the United States on Sunday.
Moreover, women get only 6 weeks of leave after the birth of a child, it found.
\"Making sure military mothers have the quality child care, generous family leave , and access to mental health services they need is key to their family well-being and our national security,\" New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney said in a statement.
\"Not addressing these issues could have serious implications for the retention of women in the military, and the readiness and effectiveness of our forces.\"
The Joint Economic Committee, a bipartisan group of senators and members of the House of Representatives, used Defense Department figures for much of the report.
It said that women represent one in seven US military personnel in Iraq, and that most are in the lowest-paid ranks.
Women make up about 14.3 percent of the active-duty military, according to the report, and about 40 percent of women in the active-duty force have children compared with 44 percent of active-duty men.
However, military women are much more likely to be single or divorced, or married to other members of the military who also face deployment.
That leaves grandparents, other relatives or paid caregivers to take care of young children when parents are deployed or redeployed.
The report, available on the Internet at http://www.jec.senate.gov, said the military may be stretched to recruit and retain women if it does not provide better services.
\"The military has increased the number of available child care centers, but the National Military Families Association estimates that the military is approximately 35,000 short of expected need,\" it said.
(Reuters)
美国国会上周五公布的一份报告显示，美国军人妈妈的压力大、薪水低、而且在照顾孩子方面需要更多帮助。
据联合经济委员会的报告，美国现役军人中近一半的女兵都被派往了伊拉克或阿富汗，目前已达到24475人。
此份于上周日母亲节当天公布的报告称，虽然军队驻扎在这两个地区的时间越来越长、调兵也越来越频繁，但孩子看护服务并没有跟上。
此外，该调查发现，女兵的产假只有六周。
纽约民主党代表卡罗琳·玛洛尼在一份声明中说：“保证军人妈妈能更好的照顾孩子、享有充足的探亲假及必要的心理健康咨询服务对于她们的家庭幸福及我们的国防安全十分关键。”
“如果这些问题得不到解决，会对军队留住女兵、军队自身的敏锐性和效率产生严重影响。”
此份报告由参议院和众议院的两党议员组成的联合经济委员会公布，其中大部分数据来源于美国国防部。
报告中称，女兵占驻伊美军总数的七分之一，而且她们中的大多数人薪水都很低。
女性约占美国现役军人的14.3%，约40%的现役女兵有孩子，现役男兵的这一比例为44%。
但女兵单身、离婚或嫁给军队里其他同样面临调配的男兵的几率较大。
这造成了在父母被调配或重新调配期间，孩子由祖父母、其他亲戚或保姆照顾的局面。
该份在http://www.jec.senate.gov网站上公布的报告称，如果军队不提高相关服务，招募及留住女兵将会变得很困难。
报告称，“目前军方已经增开了儿童看护中心，但据全国军人家庭协会估计，军队开设的儿童看护中心数量比预计需要少近3万5千个。”
（英语点津姗姗编辑）
Vocabulary:
active-duty military : 现役
family leave : 探亲假 |
发表于 2007-5-17 09:53:51