White House proposes giving out $5,000 checks to address falling birthrates amid growing ‘pronatalist’ movement

White House proposes giving out $5,000 checks to address falling birthrates amid growing ‘pronatalist’ movement

One of Donald Trump’s priorities for his second term is getting Americans to have more babies – and the White House has a new proposal to encourage them to do so: a $5,000 “baby bonus”.

The plan to give cash payments to mothers after delivery shows the growing influence of the “pronatalist” movement in the US, which, citing falling US birthrates, calls for “traditional” family values and for women – particularly white women – to have more children.

But experts say $5,000 checks won’t lead to a baby boom. Between unaffordable health care, soaring housing costs, inaccessible childcare and a lack of federal parental leave mandates, Americans face a swath of expensive hurdles that disincentivize them from having large families – or families at all – and that will require a much larger government investment to overcome.

  • The_v@lemmy.world
    16·
    2 days ago

    A C-section will run you $60K easy. With the 80:20 insurance thats $12K owed by the parents. . With the federal out of pocket maximum being $9,450 for the mother. The baby also has a $9,450 out of pocket maximum. So the family will likely owe at least $12k before leaving the hospital

    $5K handout is seriously ignorant. It will cost a hell of a lot more to reverse the trend

    In order to increase the birthrate above replacement level here are a few things that need to happen.

    1. Free universal healthcare including dental.

    2. Rent control for all apartments locked to single income minimum wage.

    3. Ban on investment properties for single family homes. If the house is classified as single family, you can’t rent it out. It must be sold.

    4. Free childcare.

    5. Free education from pre-K to Graduate levels.

    6. Open immigration policies for countries with higher birthrates.

    7. Increase minimum wage to make it a livable wage.

    8. To pay for it all - Increase corporate taxes to 95% for more than $100million income. Increase personal taxes to 95% for more than 1 million in income.