The White House has been fielding proposals aimed at persuading people to marry and have children, an effort spearheaded by outside groups seeking to boost the country’s birth rate after years of decline.
One proposal that has been pitched to White House advisers is a $5,000 “baby bonus” for every American mother who gives birth.
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” President Donald Trump said on Tuesday when asked about a $5,000 incentive for new mothers.
When asked by ABC News about the administration’s proposals, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the president is “proudly implementing policies to uplift American families.”
“The president wants America to be a place where all children can grow up safely and pursue the American dream. As a mother myself, I am proud to work for a president who is taking significant steps to leave a better country for future generations,” Leavitt stated.
Sources cautioned that while advisers are considering the proposals, Trump has not made a final decision on any of them.
A White House official pointed ABC News to the policies Trump has implemented to assist families, specifically his executive order aimed at increasing access and affordability of in vitro fertilization, or IVF. The official also warned against linking outside proposals to the White House.
The Trump administration has made significant efforts to promote families, emphasizing the need for more babies to be born in the United States.
On the campaign trail, Trump referred to himself as the “King of IVF,” and in March he joked that he would be known as the “fertilization president.”
Vice President J.D. Vance has also made an active effort to encourage people to have more children. During the 2024 campaign, Vance stated that the child tax credit should be expanded, saying that he would like to see it at $5,000 per child, but that it must be worked out with Congress to determine its viability.
And, at the March for Life in late January, Vance told the crowd that he wanted “more babies in the United States of America” and urged the government to do its part to ensure that families can afford to raise their children.
“I want more happy children in our country, as well as beautiful young men and women who are excited to bring them into the world and raise them. And it is our government’s responsibility to make it easier for young mothers and fathers to afford to have children, to bring them into the world, and to embrace them as the blessings that we know they are,” Vance said.
“We need a culture that celebrates life at all stages, one that recognizes and truly believes that the benchmark of national success is not our GDP number or our stock market but whether people feel that they can raise thriving and healthy families in our country,” according to him.
Simone Collins and her husband, Malcolm Collins, are pro-natalists who have advocated for policies that will make it easier for families to have children, ultimately reversing declining birth and marriage rates. Simone Collins told ABC News that she and her husband have submitted several draft executive orders to the White House Domestic Policy Council, including one that awards a “National Medal of Motherhood” to mothers with six or more children. They also proposed that couples should not pay a tax penalty for marrying.
She stated that the White House was open to the draft orders and is reviewing them.
MomsRising CEO Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, whose organization claims to advocate for over a million mothers and families, called the programs “sheer lunacy — coercive, counterproductive recipes for failure.”
“There’s no doubt that families need policies that allow moms and dads to care for their children, go to work, and contribute to their communities,” she said in a press release, arguing that affordable child and elder care, access to maternal health care, and paid family leave would better encourage people to start and grow their families.
“This president has had numerous opportunities to support tried-and-true, proven policies that benefit families and the economy, but his administrations have consistently failed to do so.
“The proposals the Trump administration are reportedly considering will not open avenues for moms, families and our economy to thrive,” according to her. “Those who want families to have more babies should support policies that create the care infrastructure that families and businesses require. When we make our country more family-friendly, families will have more children.”
