关注民生:中国单身妈妈们的困境(1)

When Yi Ran learned she was pregnant three years ago she was overwhelmed with fear. The 30-year-old store assistant was not married, her boyfriend was just an occasional relation and she felt at her age this could be the last chance to have a child.

三年前，当易冉（音）得知她怀孕了，她陷入了恐惧之中。那时已三十岁的她，是一名店铺助理，尚未结婚，她与他的男朋友只是偶然认识并发生了关系。她感觉到以她当时的年龄，那可能是自己最后一次生育机会。

But as she mustered courage and decided to carry on with her pregnancy, the woman fell into an invisible growing world of unwed mothers struggling to survive in tradition-dominated China. Every year the number of women giving birth out of wedlock grows by 10-13 percent, and their age becomes increasingly young, according to surveys carried by local press.

然而当她鼓起勇气决定继续妊娠将留住孩子的时候，她陷入了一个不断变大着的无形世界——在那个世界里，未婚妈妈们在传统统治下的中国竭力生存。根据一个地方媒体的调查，每年未婚生育女性的数量以10%-13%的比例在增长，并且她们的年龄越来越年轻。

Like many others, Yi Ran did not tell anybody in her entourage about the pregnancy. She chose instead to quit her job, open an online store and work from home, where she can look after her son at the same time.

像很多其他人那样，易冉没有告诉她周围的人她怀孕的事情。她选择了辞去工作，开了一个网店，在家里工作，这样她能在工作的同时照顾儿子。

She said that her heart is heavy with anxiety as she strives to make ends meet while a fine imposed on illegal births still looms large over her days.

她说，当她竭力维持生活的时候，一项针对违法生育的罚款与她如影随形，这使得她她心里充满了焦虑。

“I fear I will not be able to pay” she said.

“我很怕我无法支付罚款”，她说道。

Yi Ran’s son also does not exist on China’s population records, because he has no household registration –hukou in Chinese - available only to children born within the frame of legal marriage.

易冉的儿子同样没有被列入中国的人口记录中，因为他没有户口——户口只给那些在合法婚姻状况下生育的儿童。

The plight of single mothers

单身妈妈们的困境

The question of young women giving birth out of wedlock rose to attention a month ago when firemen rescued an abandoned baby from a sewage pipe. The case made headlines in China and shocked the whole nation.

一个月之前，消防员从下水道救出一名弃婴的事件使得年轻女性未婚生育的问题引起关注。该案例成为中国头条新闻，震惊全国。

A 22-year-old waitress in southeast China gave birth in a public toilet, then flushed the newborn’s body away in an attempt to avoid condemnation and punishment for bearing a child without being married. Only after the baby was rescued days later did she come out to explain that fear and dismay at her future as a single mother led to her actions. Police, however, returned the child to his mother.

中国西南地区一个22岁的女服务员在一个公厕生下一个婴儿，然后为了逃避由于未婚生育引起的谴责和惩罚，将婴儿从下水道冲走。在孩子得救几天以后，她才现身解释源自对自己作为单身妈妈未来的恐惧和惊慌导致她做出这样的行为。然而，警方将他的孩子交给她的母亲扶养。

Rising incomes, liberal sexual behavior and growing mobility are all impacting women’s choices on family and relations.

不断提高的收入，自由性行为和人口流动性的加剧这些因素都影响着妇女对家庭和两性关系的选择。

A survey conducted by the Guangdong Province Research Center on Family Planning revealed that 50 to 80 percent of female migrant workers in the province have premarital sex; among them 50 to 60 percent have had in accidental pregnancy.

一份来自广东省计生调查中心的调查显示：在广东省，50%-80%的女性农民工都有过婚前性行为，她们当中50%-60%的人都曾有过意外怀孕。

When they decide to keep their baby, single women are aware they are breaking the law. Chinese family planning agencies punish any contravention of the one-child policy, including birth out of wedlock.

当她们决定留住孩子的时候，这些单身女性注意到她们是在违法。中国计划生育机构对违反一个孩子政策，包括非婚生育的行为是要进行处罚的。

Wei Wei, a social worker with Little Bird –an NGO that provides help for migrant workers –says Chinese society does not support aid to unwed mothers, as other causes come first in the helping line.

魏伟（音），一个帮助农民工的非政府组织“小鸟”（Little Bird）的一名社会工作者，说当其它原因率先出现在帮助线的时候，中国社会不支持向未婚妈妈提供帮助。

“Their status is illegal, they do not have any legal protection. And this is a thorny social group, there’s no organization that looks after them, ” says Mr. Wei.

“她们的情况是非法的，她们没有受到任何法律保护。这是一个令人头疼的社会群体，没有任何组织帮助她们，”魏先生说道。

Invisible children

黑户孩子

Wei Wei said the phenomenon is widespread, especially in manufacturing clusters like Guangzhou and Shenzhen where migrant workers flock together.

魏伟说这种现象一直在蔓延，尤其在像广州、深圳那些农民工集中聚集的制造业集中的地方。

“The biggest problem they face once their partner abandons them is the issue of hukou, they are not able to get a household registration for the child” he said. “They also find themselves in very hard economic condition, because the original family excludes them, they do not have any income and it’s hard for them to find a job.”

“当被伴侣抛弃，她们面临的最大的问题是户口，她们无法为孩子上户口”，他说，“她们同样会发现自己的经济状况非常糟糕，因为娘家排斥她们，她们没有任何收入，并且很难找到工作。”

Yi Ran’s son is now three years old.

易冉的儿子现在已经三岁了。

Without the household registration he will not be allowed into kindergarten and each time he falls ill, medical fees are higher than average. But as she does not posses any marriage certificate, the young woman is not able to apply for registration.

没有户口，他没法上幼儿园；每次生病的时候，他的医疗费用都比一般人要高。但是由于她没有结婚证，导致她无法为儿子申请户籍。

“Getting a household registration for my son is my biggest concern, that’s where I would really need help” she said.

“为我儿子上户口现在是我最关心的问题，这也是我真正需要帮助的地方”，她说道。

Little Bird’s Wei Wei said the law does not consider this situation.

在“小鸟”工作的魏伟说法律不考虑这种（上户口的）情况。