The Birthrate Debate
As if DOGE and tariffs weren't enough the last 60 days, here comes the birthrate debate
The New York Times reported yesterday that the White House is hearing proposals to persuade Americans to get married and boost the birth rate. I’m going to share the most relevant portion of the article below:
One proposal shared with aides would reserve 30 percent of scholarships for the Fulbright program, the prestigious, government-backed international fellowship, for applicants who are married or have children.
Another would give a $5,000 cash “baby bonus” to every American mother after delivery.
A third calls on the government to fund programs that educate women on their menstrual cycles — in part so they can better understand when they are ovulating and able to conceive.
Those ideas, and others, are emerging from a movement concerned with declining birthrates that has been gaining steam for years and now finally has allies in the U.S. administration, including Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk. Policy experts and advocates of boosting the birthrate have been meeting with White House aides, sometimes handing over written proposals on ways to help or convince women to have more babies, according to four people who have been part of the meetings who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
This feels like a gift and the curse moment for all Americans. On one hand, we have left women, mothers, and families hanging without enough support for decades so I’m glad the conversation is starting. I’ve seen and heard debates claiming that “lazy people” have kids for welfare checks, which makes zero sense. NOBODY makes money having kids and the idea that people could possibly make a living by having children is completely insane.
Please actually do the math.
On the other hand, anytime this country has a conversation about marriage and children, women’s bodies and human sexuality ultimately get attacked. We know how people use the ideas of marriage and family to politically shape the moral fabric of the nation so anytime there is a push toward marriage and increasing the birth rate, I’m immediately defensive.
But, as a new father who is struggling financially, I wanted to share some ideas I have about the things I hope we fight for knowing that this conversation will most likely get derailed and devolve into something from the Handmaid’s Tale.