今年早些時候，長沙、南寧等地出現了“租爹熱”，不少家政公司推出“鐘點爸爸”租賃服務，可以根據孩子的喜好陪孩子玩耍、鍛煉身體等。話說，這爸爸也能租嗎？

“Hourly dad (or hired dad)” is a newly created term where a man is hired to take a child to and from school, play games and work out with the child. He is paid by the hour and doesn’t need to help the child with his/her homework.

“鐘點爸爸”是一個新興職業，主要負責接送孩子、陪孩子玩游戲、搞鍛煉，不負責輔導學習，家長按小時付給報酬。

Hourly dads are needed because many parents are too busy to take care of their children or children from single-parent families (of a single mother in particular) may need someone to spend time with them like a father.

“鐘點爸爸”的出現主要是由于很多家長忙于工作，沒有時間接送和陪伴孩子；部分單親家庭的孩子缺少父愛、父教，需要提供親情服務。

Experts said that this idea was created with good intentions, and there is demand in the market. But parents are irreplaceable in a child’s life, you cannot randomly hire someone to act as his/her father.

專家認為“鐘點爸爸”的出發點是好的，市場也有一定的需求，但任何人都無法代替父母，靠“鐘點爸爸”來彌補孩子的情感缺失之作法不可取。

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen）

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