Weekly
Address: Bringing our Workplace Policies into the 21st Century
The White House
June 21, 2014
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.
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.
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about half of America’s workforce, outdated workplace policies that make it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.
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.
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. |
|小黑屋|手机版|Archiver|英语口译 ( 渝ICP备10012431号-2 )
GMT+8, 2014-6-25 21:44 , Processed in 0.078551 second(s), 22 queries , Gzip On.