The New York Times reported this week that Trump administration officials have been fielding proposals and discussing plans for increasing marriages and birth in the US One plan would reserve nearly a third of government-funded Fulbright scholarships for applicants who are married or have children, another would devote federal funding to educating women on the relationship between conception and their menstrual cycles, and another would award $5,000 to mothers after each delivery.

Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand, "As a pregnant mom, I would be thrilled to accept $5,000 upon the birth of my child, but I don't think money is the reason that people aren't having children." She continued, "If money isn't the reason people aren't having children, then the $5,000 bonus might increase the birthrate in the short-term—and be a nice perk for people like me—but it's not a long-term solution."

Some countries, like Hungary, have attempted to boost flagging birthrates with similar programs, such as tax exemptions for mothers with four or more children or interest-free loans for families. While such policies have had some impact, it has largely been short-term and, in many cases, not enough to return birthrates to replacement levels. Hungary's total fertility rate (TFR), for example, rose from 1.23 in 2011 to 1.59 in 2021, declining again slightly to 1.51 in 2023, but a TFR of at least 2.1 would be needed to return to and maintain population stability.

Other nations, including, Australia, China, Estonia, Finland, and Japan have similar programs, providing financial rewards or incentives to mothers and families in an effort to increase birthrates. However, Australia's TFR has fallen to the historic low of 1.5, China's to 1.0, Estonia's to 1.31, Finland's to 1.25, and Japan's to 1.26, all well below the 2.1 needed to maintain population stability. The pronounced decline in birthrates is not being halted by financial programs incentivizing having children but worsening—in most cases to historic lows—despite such programs. The US has also hit an historic low, with a TFR of 1.62 in 2023, down from 1.66 the year before.

Szoch explained, "It seems to me that people aren't having children because of a plethora of other reasons: they haven't met anyone yet, there's a lack of religiosity among young people, society has a porn addiction problem, many couples are struggling with infertility, some people are just selfish." She added, "If we want to address the birthrate in the long-term, we have to address these root issues."

"Providing funding for restorative reproductive medicine so that couples can find and fix the root cause of their infertility would be a great start," Szoch suggested. She continued, "Addressing the fact that both the porn industry and the social media industry are targeting, attacking, and addicting children and teens—preventing their brains from developing properly and later preventing those children from forming lasting relationships—would also be helpful." She also recommended, "Passing legislation allowing school choice so that families can afford to send their kids to schools where their faith will be strengthened and where values of courage, selflessness, and true love will be taught is another idea."

"We need to get to the root causes of the declining birth rate," Szoch insisted.

According to The New York Times, addressing infertility issues will likely feature as a centerpiece of whatever policy the Trump administration eventually adopts. Some administration advisors, like tech billionaire Elon Musk, have supported the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) to address low birth rates, while pro-life advisors and allies have advised against this, noting that IVF often results in the intentional destruction of numerous unborn children. Some, including Musk and Vice President JD Vance, have attempted to "normalize" having large families by frequently appearing in public with their children. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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