美国总统奥巴马每周电台演讲2014.06.21

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

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

大家好。作为总统，我的第一要务就是重塑一个任何人努力工作就有机会致富的经济。

这就是我将于周一在工薪家庭白宫峰会上准备花点时间谈论的。我们将邀请企业领导人和工人们谈论工薪家长们明天都要面对的挑战，以及我们如何共同应对这些挑战。

Take paid family leave. 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. That’s wrong. And it puts us way behind the times. Only three countries in the world report that they don’t offer paid maternity leave. Three. And the United States is one of them. It’s time to change that. 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.

Childcare is another challenge. Most working families I know can’t afford thousands a year for childcare, but often that’s what it costs. 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.

以带薪家庭假为例。很多工作没有足够的照顾新生儿或生病父母的假，所以在家里人最需要的时候工人们请不起假回家。这不对。这使我们落后于时代了。据报道世界上仅有三个国家没有带薪产假。就三个。美国是其中之一。现在是改变的时候了。有一些州已经单独行动给工人们带薪产假了，但是这应该惠及每个人，因为所有美国人都应该请得起假照顾需要照顾的家人。

儿童看护是另一个挑战。据我所知大多数工薪家庭承受不了每年几千美元看护儿童，但是这通常就是儿童看护的成本。这使得家长们焦头烂额，只能选择保证他们工作时孩子们安全--忽略了给他们高质量的有助于他们一生成功的儿童早期教育。

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. Most workers want it, but not enough of them have it. What’s more, it not only makes workers happier – studies show that flexibility can make workers more productive and reduce worker turnover and absenteeism. That’s good for business.

At a time when women make up about half of America’s workforce, outdated workplace policies that make it harder for mothers to work hold our entire economy back. But these aren’t just problems for women.  Men also care about who’s watching their kids.  They’re rearranging their schedules to make it to soccer games and school plays.  Lots of sons help care for aging parents.  And plenty of fathers would love to be home for their new baby’s first weeks in the world.

这就是一个灵活性的问题--请几个小时假参加家长会或当孩子生病时回家照顾一下的可能性。大多数工人们需要这样，但是他们中很少有人有这个假。更重要的是，这不仅使工人们更加幸福--研究表明灵活性可以使工人们的生产量增加而且减少跳槽和旷工。这对企业也有利。

在妇女几乎占据美国劳动力的半壁江山的时候，过时的使母亲们工作艰难的职场政策托了整个经济的后腿。但是它们不仅仅是妇女们面对的问题。男人们同样关心谁来照看他们的孩子们。他们将重新安排时间赶上足球赛和学校活动。很多儿子们还要照顾年迈的父母。世界上很多父亲们非常愿意在孩子出生的第一周回家照顾孩子。

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.  When that many talented, hard-working people are forced to choose between work and family, something’s wrong.  Other countries are making it easier for people to have both.  We should too, if we want American businesses to compete and win in the global economy.                                                                                     
Family leave. Childcare. Flexibility. These aren’t frills – they’re basic needs. They shouldn’t be bonuses – they should be the bottom line.

事实上，一项新的研究报告，近半数的家长们--男人和女人--对工作说不，不是因为他们不想干，而是因为这对他们的家庭太艰难了。当天才的努力工作的人们被迫在工作和家庭之间选择时，一定是什么东西错了。其它国家正在使人们轻而易举地二者得兼。如果我们想让美国的企业在全球经济中竞争和取胜，我们也应该如此。

家庭事务假。儿童看护假。灵活性。这些不是花架子--它们是基本需求。它们不应该是奖励--它们应该是底线。

The good news is, some businesses are embracing family-friendly policies, because they know it’s key to attracting and retaining talented employees. And I’m going to keep highlighting the businesses that do. Because I take this personally. I take it personally as the son and grandson of some strong women who worked hard to support my sister and me. As the husband of a brilliant woman who struggled to balance work and raising our young ladies when my job often kept me away. 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.

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

Thanks, and have a great weekend.
 好在一些企业正在执行家庭友好的政策，因为他们知道这是吸引和留住天才雇员的关键。我将继续关注这样做的企业。因为我个人支持这样。作为两个坚强的抚养了妹妹和我的妇女儿子和外孙子，我个人支持这样。作为一个杰出的在我经常失业时努力平衡工作和抚养年幼女士的妇女的丈夫，我个人支持这样。作为两个漂亮女儿的望女成龙父亲，我个人支持这样。我希望她们有一天拥有自己的家庭和事业。
 以史为鉴，我们知道我们的经济发展得最好的方式是从中间向两边发展；人人参与，每个人的天赋得以发挥，所有人都有公平的机会，我们的国家就更好。这就是我所信仰的美国。这就是我每天为之奋斗的美国。
谢谢，周末快乐。