第二胎國家養？
When interviewed by media in Taiwan regarding the Swedish government’s policies directed towards raising birthrates and rearing children, Swedish citizen, actress and teacher Susanne Palm responded without hesitation, saying that “Sweden is the absolute best place in the world to raise a child.”
曾有媒體邀請在台瑞典人暢聊國內的社會福利政策，身兼演員與老師身分的普舒珊（Susanne Palm）聊及育嬰福利時，直呼「瑞典是全球養孩子最好的地方之一！」，
direct(v.)指向birthrate(n.)生育率rear(v.)撫養hesitation(n.)猶豫absolute(adj.)絕對的raise(v.)養育
Not only do both mothers and fathers get 240 days paid maternity/paternity leave, but when children reach the age of one the family becomes eligible to apply to public kindergartens. On top of that, every family receives monthly financial assistance as well as other benefits provided by the government.
包括父母雙方可享有各240天的帶薪父母假、孩子滿1歲有公立幼兒園可申請，以及每個孩子擁有每月育嬰補助等措舉。
maternity(n.)母親的身份paternity(n.)父親的身份leave(n.)休假reach(v.)達到、發展到eligible(adj.)有資格的on top of sth除了某事之外⋯⋯financial(adj.)財務的assistance(n.)幫助
Even though the birthrate is only slowly climbing in Sweden, Swedes are clear about the matter “If these measures and policies weren’t in place, the birthrate would be even lower.”
雖然生育率爬升得慢，但至少有做有差，瑞典人也直言：「如果沒有這些福利，生育率會更低。」
birthrate(n.)生育率in place準備妥當
As Taiwan enters an era of negative birth rate, many Taiwanese couples, while not sharing the calm pride of their Swedish counterparts, face similar concerns regarding raising children.
而即將邁入負生育率時代的台灣，許多夫妻雖然不求沾染瑞典家長的從容驕傲，卻可能都有著類似的養育心事。
negative(adj.)負的pride(n.)自尊、自豪counterpart(n.)相對應者raise(v.)養育
“Having a child is easy, but raising the child… that’s the real challenge,” they say. Even in Taipei, where government financial subsidies for raising children are high, one must factor in the higher living expenses in a city where parents spend up to 20,000 NT dollars a month on their children.
「生小孩不難，但養小孩才是大魔王，北市補助多但生活費也高，每月光是育兒費就高達2萬，
financial(adj.)財務的subsidy(n.)津貼raise(v.)養育factor sth in把⋯⋯因素考量進去expense(n.)花費
When the children begin attending school, the financial burden becomes even more unbearable. If you can’t get your child enrolled into a public kindergarten, the cost skyrockets even higher. The cost gets higher when you factor in outside classes and cram schools, not to mention the high cost of housing. “You can’t even think about having a second child,” is the undeniable sentiment which comes across loud and clear from parents.
未來孩子上學，更要煩惱抽不抽得中公幼、學雜費跟補習費等，更別提房租負擔，實在不敢再生！」無奈而嘹亮的怒吼，自每個家長胸臆中傳出。
financial(adj.)經濟的burden(n.)負擔unbearable(adj.)難以承受的enroll(v.)註冊skyrocket(v.)暴漲factor sth in把⋯⋯因素考量進去housing(n.)住宅undeniable(adj.)不可否認的sentiment(n.)觀點、看法come across明白表達、理解
Naturally, birthrate and child rearing policies are at the heart of this year’s Taipei’s election. Candidate Yao Wenzhi has proposed the “Second Child National Pension” program, which advocates that for every second newborn child a family will receive 10,000 NT dollars per month from birth to age 5. In 6 years the total amount of the pension would reach 720,000 NT dollars per family.
托育與婦幼政策也成為北市選舉的重要議題，姚文智提出「第二胎國家養」方案，主張新生兒第二胎之後者，0至5歲每人每月補助1萬元，6年共補助72萬；
naturally(adv.)自然地birthrate(n.)生育率rear(v.)撫養propose(v.)提出advocate(v.)提倡pension(n.)撫恤金
Candidate Ding Shouzhong has also put forward several child-rearing policy proposals including “One School, One Public Support,” “The Child Care Center” and “The Full Family Children’s Allowance.”
丁守中則端出「一校一公托」、「托幼中心」與「育兒津貼全面適用」等主張；
Today, governments around the world are actively promoting “Birthrate Acceleration Policies,” which integrate national and social resources, striving to create an environment that allows parents to be less timid about having more children.
世界各地政府積極推動「催生政策」，整合國家與社會資源，努力營造一個讓父母放膽生的環境。
acceleration(n.)加速integrate(v.)合併、整合resource(n.)資源strive(v.)努力奮鬥timid(adj.)膽怯的
In response to Taiwan’s fertility rate being ranked as one of the lowest in the world for the past seven years, the Tsai administration has finally made birthrate and childrearing an important national security issue, and have clearly come with grips with the obstacles and stark realities of having children in Taiwan. How many obstacles will be cleared for parents? I believe this will be determined by the votes of every parent.
眼看台灣生育率已有7年盤據世界最低的位置之一，蔡政府日前也終於將少子化趨勢定調為國安問題，而環境與現實中的困難與阻礙究竟被清除了多少，相信也將決定每個家長手中的選票。
fertility(n.)生殖力administration(n.)一屆政府grip(n.)控制obstacle(n.)阻礙stark(adj.)嚴重的determine(v.)決定