The White House has been exploring ideas to encourage more Americans to have children, including a “baby bonus” payment of $5,000, according to reports.
The New York Times reported that policy experts and advocates of boosting the birth rate have been meeting with White House aides to present proposals on how to increase the U.S. birth rate, which is currently in decline.
The proposals now have allies in the U.S. administration, the Times said, citing unnamed sources, although no decision has been made.
When contacted by Newsweek for comment, the White House said that President Donald Trump is “proudly implementing policies to uplift American families.”
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Why it matters
As birth rates in the United States have been falling over the last decade and a half, the White House has been hearing how to encourage Americans to get married and have more children, according to the report.
This is a sign that the Trump administration will back an agenda from many of its allies on the right to reverse declining birthrates and promote conservative family values, the New York Times added.
What to know
The NYT reported that the White House has been hearing a “chorus” of ideas to persuade Americans to get married and have more children.
Policy experts and advocates have come up with proposals that include reserving 30 percent of scholarships for the Fulbright program, international fellowship, for those who are married or have children.
Another idea would be to give a $5,000 cash “baby bonus” to every woman after they have given birth. A third policy calls on the government to fund educational programs for women about their menstrual cycles so they can better understand when they are ovulating and able to conceive.
The National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there were only 54.5 births for every 1,000 females aged 15 to 44 in 2023, which was the lowest figure on record and 3 percent down from the 2022 birth rate.
The declining birth rate has sparked political discourse with Vice President JD Vance saying on January 24, that he wanted “more babies” being born in the U.S.
Trump administration officials have not indicated if they would support the ideas although advocates are confident that the U.S. president wants to see a “baby boom,” his officials attending events with their children being a strong indication of this, the NYT reported.
In February, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a father of nine, reportedly signed a memo instructing the Department of Transportation (DOT) to give precedence to “communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”
Simone Collins along with her husband, Malcolm Collins, sent the White House draft executive orders, including one that would bestow a “National Medal of Motherhood” to mothers with six or more children. She noted that Trump officials, such as Vance, are often pictured at events with their children which sent out a strong message.
In a statement to Newsweek, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Trump “is proudly implementing policies to uplift American families, from securing order border to keep violent criminals out of our communities, to lowering taxes and the cost of living.”
The President wants America to be a country where all children can safely grow up and achieve the American dream,” Leavitt’s statement said. “As a mother myself, I am proud to work for a president who is taking significant action to leave a better country for the next generation.”
However, Peggy Heffington, a professor at University of Chicago who writes on women’s movements and motherhood, told Newsweek the reported proposals miss the economic difficulties facing American families “in favor of an ideological agenda that exalts motherhood” without offering real support for mothers.
What people are saying
Simone Collins, pro-natalism advocate, per The New York Times: “I just think this administration is inherently pronatalist.”
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt: “President Trump is proudly implementing policies to uplift American families…the President wants America to be a country where all children can safely grow up and achieve the American dream.”
Peggy Heffington, instructional professor of history at the University of Chicago, “This has long been the pattern in the U.S.—ardent pronatalist rhetoric but an unwillingness to address factors in the American family, economy, and society that made it increasingly appealing for women to limit their fertility, or to opt out of motherhood entirely.”
What happens next
The NYT report did not indicate if the Trump administration was close to making decisions on the reported proposals to boost birth rates but Trump aides are preparing a report due in May recommending ways to make in vitro fertilization (IVF) more readily available and affordable.
Update 04/22/25, 2:30 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with a White House response and comment from Peggy Heffington.
