Obama's Weekly Address WEEKLY ADDRESS: Bringing our Workplace Policies into the 21st Century

奧巴馬每周電視講話:總統呼吁改善美國經濟大環境

Hi, everybody.

大家好！

As President, my top priority is rebuilding an economy where everybody who works hard has the chance to get ahead.

作為總統，我最首要的職責就是重建一個讓所有辛勤工作的人都能取得成功的經濟環境。

That's what I'll spend some time talking about on Monday, at the White House Summit on Working Families.

我將在周一舉行的白宮工薪家庭峰會上就此話題談論我的觀點。

We're bringing together business leaders and workers to talk about the challenges that working parents face every day, and how we can address them together.

屆時我將與眾多企業領導和員工們匯聚一堂，共同探討工薪父母們每天面對的挑戰，并對此提出我們所能實現的解決辦法。

Take paid family leave.

帶薪產假和探親假。

Many jobs don't offer adequate leave to care for a new baby or an ailing parent, so workers can't afford to be there when their family needs them the most.

多數崗位都不提供足夠的假期讓員工有時間去照顧新生嬰兒或生病的父母，因此，員工無法在他們的家庭急需他們的時候及時到位，因為他們無法承受這一代價。

That's wrong. And it puts us way behind the times.

這不合理。我們沒有跟上時代的步伐。

Only three countries in the world report that they don't offer paid maternity leave.

全世界只有三個國家公開表示不提供帶薪產假。

Three. And the United States is one of them.

只有三個。而我們的國家就是其中之一。

It's time to change that.

是時候做出改變了。

A few states have acted on their own to give workers paid family leave, but this should be available to everyone, because all Americans should be able to afford to care for a family member in need.

有少數州已經做出了調整，給員工提供帶薪產假和探親假，但這應該是每個人都能享受到的福利，因為所有美國人民都應該具備照顧需要照料的家庭成員的能力。

Childcare is another challenge.

子女撫養是另一個挑戰。

Most working families I know can't afford thousands a year for childcare, but often that's what it costs.

大多數工薪家庭，據我所知，無法承受每年數千美元的子女撫養費用，但通常這都是他們必須的支出。

That leaves parents scrambling just to make sure their kids are safe while they're at work-forget about giving them the high-quality early childhood education that helps kids succeed in life.

這讓父母們很糾結，這些支出只是為了確保他們在上班的時候孩子們有安全的環境，根本談不上高質量的兒童早期教育去幫助孩子們成長成功。

Then there's the issue of flexibility-the ability to take a few hours off for a parent-teacher conference or to work from home when your kid is sick.

那么，靈活解決問題的方式是，讓父母有幾個小時的時間去參加一次家長會或是當孩子生病的時候可以在家辦公。

Most workers want it, but not enough of them have it.

大多數的員工都需要這些，但并不是大部分人都可以享受到。

What's more, it not only makes workers happier-studies show that flexibility can make workers more productive and reduce worker turnover and absenteeism.

更重要的是，這這不僅能讓員工更開心，有研究證明，彈性工作時間可以讓員工的工作效率更高，并減少員工離職和缺勤。

That's good for business.

企業可以從中獲益良多。

At a time when women make up about half of America's workforce, outdated workplace policies that make it harder for mothers to work hold our entire economy back.

在婦女撐起半邊天的時代，過時的工作制度讓媽媽們的工作更加艱難，也拉了整個經濟發展的后腿。

But these aren't just problems for women.

但這不僅僅是針對女性存在的問題。

Men also care about who's watching their kids.

男性也關心誰能夠照顧孩子的問題。

They're rearranging their schedules to make it to soccer games and school plays.

他們要不斷調正他們的日程表，趕上球賽和校園演出。

Lots of sons help care for aging parents.

很多當兒子的照顧上了年紀的父母。

And plenty of fathers would love to be home for their new baby's first weeks in the world.

很多當父親的更愿意在孩子出生的第一個星期在家陪伴寶寶。

In fact, in a new study, nearly half of all parents-women and men-report that they've said no to a job, not because they didn't want it, but because it would be too hard on their families.

實際上，有新的研究表明，幾乎有一半的父母，男女都包括在內，他們對一份工作說不，不是因為他們不想要，而是同時要顧及家庭會是分艱難。

When that many talented, hard-working people are forced to choose between work and family, something's wrong.

當大量有能力，肯付出的人被迫在工作和家庭之間做選擇的時候，可定就有問題了。

Other countries are making it easier for people to have both.

其它國家都在努力讓人們更好堅固二者。

We should too, if we want American businesses to compete and win in the global economy.

如果我們想要保持美國企業的競爭力，并在全球經濟發展中勝出，我們也應該這么做。

Family leave. Childcare. Flexibility. These aren't frills-they're basic needs.

帶薪產假，子女撫養，彈性工作時間。這些不是花架子，而是人們的基本需求。

They shouldn't be bonuses-they should be the bottom line.

這不應該是獎勵，而應該是底線。

The good news is, some businesses are embracing family-friendly policies, because they know it's key to attracting and retaining talented employees.

好消息是，有些企業正在向適合家庭工作制度方面轉向，因為他們知道，吸引并留住高素質的員工至關重要。

And I'm going to keep highlighting the businesses that do.

我將繼續鼓勵這些企業的做法。

Because I take this personally.

因為作為個人我認同這一點。

I take it personally as the son and grandson of some strong women who worked hard to support my sister and me.

兩位堅強的女性努力工作撫養了我和我妹妹，作為兒子和孫子，我贊同這一點。

As the husband of a brilliant woman who struggled to balance work and raising our young ladies when my job often kept me away.

作為一位努力在工作和撫養我們的女兒們之間艱難平衡的杰出女性的丈夫，因為我的工作將我經常離開他們，我認同這些企業的做法。

And as the father of two beautiful girls, whom I want to be there for as much as I possibly can-and whom I hope will be able to have families and careers of their own one day.

作為兩個漂亮姑娘的父親，我想盡可能多的與她們呆在一起，希望能陪她們到她們自己成家立業的那一天。

We know from our history that our economy grows best from the middle-out; that our country does better when everybody participates; when everyone's talents are put to use; when we all have a fair shot.

歷史告訴我們，我們的經濟在中產階級壯大的時候發展的最好；我們的國家在所有人都積極參與建設的時候更強大；當每個人的才能都被發揮出來，當我們都有機會取得成功。

That's the America I believe in. That's the America I'll keep fighting for every day.

這才是我們希望中的美國。這也是我們每天都將為之奮斗的美國。

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

謝謝大家，祝你們周末愉快。

更多 英語演講小短文、英文演講稿、英語演講稿 相關文章和資料，請繼續關注 英語作文大全