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Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Pregnancy, Women's Health, Life, Health, Parenting
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Pregnancy, Women's Health, Life, Health, Parenting
Donald Trump has proposed a bizarre incentive for women to have babies following the declining birthrate in the United States.
Now, for some context, the US total fertility rate has declined from 2.1 births per woman since 1990 - a figure which is enough to fully replace the current population – to 1.62 births per woman in 2023 according to a March report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The declining birthrate could be down to a whole number of factors including the increase of dual-income households, the cost of living crisis and a shift in social norms and values.
Regardless, several groups have now reportedly pitched a series of ideas to help 'combat' the shrinking population - something which politicians are no doubt fretting over given the impact it will have on the economy and the social safety net.
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According to the New York Times, pitched ideas included a $5,000 'baby bonus' for new mothers as well as expanded child tax credits, funding menstrual cycle education and reserving 30 percent of Fulbright scholarships for people who are married or have children.
Such ideas stem from a movement concerned with declining birthrates - something which Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk - who has had 13 children with three different women, along with claims he's fathered a 14th child with author Ashley St. Clair - have openly campaigned over.
Trump, who has previously dubbed himself the 'fertilisation president' and has five children with three different women, has long preached the notion of a 'nuclear family' with key motivations behind cultivating a 'baby boom'.
Project 2025, the policy blueprint that has forecasted much of the 78-year-old Republican's agenda so far, discusses family issues before anything else.
It opens its first chapter with a promise to 'restore the family as the centrepiece of American life'.
The Times explains that much of the movement is shaped around promoting a very specific idea of what constitutes a family - namely one that includes marriage between a man and a woman.
It notably leaves out many families that don’t conform to traditional gender roles or family structures.
White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement that Mr. 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," she added. "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."