THIS IS AMERICA - In the United States, Some Companies Provi

THIS IS AMERICA - In the United States, Some Companies Provide After-School Programs for Children of Employees
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Monday, April 04, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to This is America in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Today we tell about companies that provide after-school programs for the children of their employees.

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VOICE ONE:

Many American companies believe it is very important to keep their best workers. It can cost a lot of money for companies to hire new employees and train them. When an employee leaves after working at one company for many years, that company loses the value of the employee's knowledge and experience.

So American companies are trying many different ways to keep their top employees. Companies compete to offer special services or benefits to their employees. This helps companies keep good workers and gain new ones.

Some companies offer employee services that are creative and different.

For example, one company offers classes during the work day in exercise, golf, yoga and foreign languages. Other companies have special programs to help their employees pay less for services like travel, buying clothes and even buying a house.

VOICE TWO:

Many companies are trying to help employees take care of their children or older family members. There are programs to give new mothers more time at home before they must return to work. Some employers² allow people to work special hours or even to work by computer from offices in their homes. Working from a home office is called "telecommuting" or "working virtually³".

People who do this want to be at home with their children. Or they may not like driving a long distance to work when there are many cars on the road.

VOICE ONE:

Sometimes companies offer special programs to take care of children.

More than three million American children between the ages of six and twelve are home everyday after school without adult supervision⁴.

Many older children also are home alone after school. A report from the National Institute on Out-of-School Time says that only half of the sixteen and seventeen year olds in the United States have useful activities after school.

 

Many experts believe that young people have too many chances to get in trouble if they do not have useful activities after school. These experts say good after-school programs for older children can help them become better leaders, better communicators and better problem-solvers.

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VOICE TWO:

Bright Horizons is a company that provides child care services to big American companies. Bright Horizons talked to employees at thirty-three different companies around the United States. More than two-thirds of these employees said their most important problem is finding⁵ good child care that they are able to pay for. Bright Horizons now provides many different kinds of child care services to companies. It has three times as many programs now as it did two years ago.

VOICE ONE:

Many American companies are offering their own programs for the older children of their employees. A large American company called Abbott Laboratories⁷ is in Abbott Park, Illinois. In two thousand one, Abbott spent ten million dollars to build one of the largest centers in the United States to care for children. A special room called "The Lodge⁸" offers programs for school-age children. Whenever these children are not in school, they may come to the center. It is in the same area where at least one of their parents works⁹. The older children learn about nature, do science experiments, play games and take special trips.

Abbott Laboratories also created a program called "Summer of Service". This program is for teenagers who are too young to work but too old for traditional summer camps. The teenagers work on projects that are fun but also provide a service to their community.

VOICE TWO:

Abbott Vice¹ President Sharon Larkin also says over the next ten years, eighty-five percent of the employees in the United States will be working parents. Right now, she says ten million workers are single parents. Miz Larkin says it is important for companies to be friendly to families and children.

She says communities must invest¹⁰ in learning¹¹ and development for young people today so they will be successful in the future.

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VOICE ONE:

American business leaders say there are many good reasons to provide child care services for their employees. They say it is easier to hire new employees when the company offers child care services. The Wall Street Journal¹² newspaper reported that employees who do not have to worry about their children work harder. And they do not miss work as often. One researcher reported about the cost of employees not being able to go to work because of problems with child care. The cost to American businesses is three thousand million dollars every year.

Bright Horizons says ninety-eight percent of the employees who use one of its child-care programs would have taken time off from work if the child care program did not exist.

Many parents also come late to work or leave early because of problems caring for their children. When employers offer services to care for children, absences are reduced by twenty to thirty percent.

VOICE TWO:

Ford¹³ Motor Company is one of the biggest American companies that provides services to families. Ford and its labor⁶ union, the United Auto¹⁴ Workers, created Family Service and Learning Centers in two thousand one. The centers have classes for parents. They also have programs for teenagers and older children before and after school.

Many automobile¹⁵ factories operate twenty-four hours a day. So child care services are offered twenty-four hours a day in some cities. Ford Chairman William Ford says, "Social issues are business issues. Businesses will only be as successful as the communities and the world they live in."

VOICE ONE:

David Terrell works at a Ford factory in Dearborn, Michigan. He says his fifteen-year-old daughter Sheena wants to be a news reporter. Mister¹⁶ Terrell hopes his daughter will be able to work on a community newspaper for teenagers at the Ford Family Service and Learning Center in Dearborn. Another Ford employee in Dearborn says the young people and adults will be able to work together at the new Center to solve neighborhood problems like too many illegal drugs.

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VOICE TWO:

Another big American company has a different way of helping¹⁷ employees. The computer company, IBM, helps to pay for camps during the summer when schools are not open. These camps are offered for several weeks at the beginning and end of the summer. The camps offer many different activities for children who are eight to twelve years old. Children may attend for a week or only a few days. The cost to parents is low because IBM pays some of the cost.

VOICE ONE:

A banking¹⁸ company called PNC Financial Services also provides programs for the children of its employees. PNC provides something called "back-up" care for young people up to age fourteen. Parents may use this service for twenty days a year when schools are not open and they do not have other child care services. PNC has centers for older children in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

These centers have computer areas, places where young people may eat or play games and kitchens where they may cook. There also is a stage where children can create video and theater presentations. PNC Vice President Kathy D'Appolonia says the only problem is that parents and children want to use the centers for more than twenty days each year.

VOICE TWO:

PNC also has people who will talk to parents on the telephone about problems they may be having with their children. Miz D'Appolonia says the problems are sometimes simple and sometimes very serious. But she says employees work harder for the company if the company works hard to serve the needs of the employees. American businesses are finding that if they invest in their employees, they are also investing¹⁹ in the success of their companies.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Karen Leggett and produced by Caty Weaver²⁰. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember.  Join us again next week for This is America in VOA Special English.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 employers   

雇主( employer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• The onus is on employers to follow health and safety laws. 雇主有义务遵行健康安全法。

3 virtually   

adv.实际上，事实上

参考例句：

• The job was virtually completed by the end of the week.到周末时这项工作差不多完成了。
• He was virtually a prisoner.他实际上是个囚犯。

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 laboratories   

n.实验室( laboratory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For, eight years, Marie Curie worked in cold laboratories with poor equipment. 整整八年，居里夫人在设备简陋、冰冷的实验室里做着实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• Some commercial laboratories use periodic nitrate tests as guides. 许多商业性的试验室已应用定期的硝态氮分析作为指导。 来自辞典例句

8 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

9 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

10 invest   

v.投资；投入(时间等)；授予，赋予

参考例句：

• I have decided to invest in a new car.我已经决定买一辆新汽车。
• The best time to invest is now.现在是投资的最佳时机。

11 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

12 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

13 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

14 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

15 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

16 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

19 investing   

v.投资，花费( invest的现在分词 )；授予；（把资金）投入；投入（时间、精力等）

参考例句：

• He was timid about investing money. 他不敢投资。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Europe also caught the excitement of investing in American railroads. 欧洲人对投资美国铁路也极感兴趣。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

20 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。