Weekly Address: Continuing to Strengthen the Middle Class
在本周的讲话中，奥巴马总统强调了在他任期内的工资增长。从2012年开始，实际工资增速是1980到2007年的三十年间的20多倍。去年，一般家庭收入增加了2800美元，这是有史以来的最大单幅增长。美国的每一个种族和每一个年龄阶层，都涨了工资和降低了贫困率。并且有350万人脱贫，这是自1968年以来，失业率最大的一次单年下降。尽管我们取得了显著的成绩，但奥巴马总统表示要壮大中产阶级，还有更多的工作要做，这就需要国会将政治放一边，凭常识来作为。
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
October 8, 2016
Hi, everybody. Eight years ago, we were in the early stages of what would become the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. It was a scary time. We didn’t even know where the bottom would be.
But thanks to your hard work and determination, and some smart decisions we made, today’s a different story. We turned a recession（经济衰退） into a record streak（连续记录） of job growth, creating more than 15 million new private-sector jobs and cutting the unemployment rate in half.
Getting wages to rise again was a harder task. Even before the recession, working Americans faced decades of slow wage growth. Between 1980 and 2007, real wages barely grew each year. But because the policies we’ve put in place are working, working families are finally seeing their wages and incomes rise, too. Since 2012, wages have grown around 20 times faster than they did over the almost three decades between 1980 and 2007.
Last year, folks’ typical household income rose by $2,800. That’s the single biggest increase on record. And across every race and age group in America, incomes rose and poverty rates fell. We lifted 3.5 million people out of poverty（脱贫） – the largest one-year drop in the poverty rate since 1968.
What’s more, lower- and middle-income families saw the biggest boost in incomes – in part because 18 states and the District, as well as more than 50 communities, have given millions of Americans a raise by raising the minimum wage. And states that have raised their minimum wage have seen stronger earnings growth in low-wage jobs compared to states that have not.
Strengthening benefits at work helps, too. Last week, for example, I took action to make sure up to one million more workers can earn seven days of paid sick leave on the job. We’re also helping states expand opportunities for workers to save for retirement. But there’s a lot more we should do to strengthen the middle class and help more Americans get ahead. Making childcare more affordable, for example. Making sure women earn equal pay for equal work. Guaranteeing paid family and sick leave. Increasing the federal minimum wage. Preparing workers for the jobs of the future. And closing tax loopholes that benefit just the wealthy and big corporations.
Now we just need a Congress that cares about these issues – one that will finally put politics aside and act on these commonsense ideas. That’s how we’ll build on the progress we’ve made over these past eight years, and achieve one thing we should all agree on – securing a brighter future for all our children.
Thanks everybody. Have a great weekend.
