Elon Musk and JD Vance, among others in the Trump administration, seem to be firm believers of the phrase, ‘The more the merrier.’ The two have constantly spoken up about the declining birth rate of the nation while urging Americans to have more children. Here’s why the current government is leaning towards the pro-natal movement.
Pronatalism is a movement that encourages people to have kids because the ideology argues that it is beneficial for the greater good. It also urges families to have kids on behalf of the state. It can simply be explained as a “belief that the government policy should incentivize people to give birth,” as per a The Guardian report.
Pronatalism is an ideology that conservatives strongly believe in. Mike Johnson, who served as the speaker of the House, even criticised abortions to support the ideology. The Republican once claimed that the right to abort was harmful for the economy because it was depriving the nation of future workers.
The government is encouraging citizens to have more kids, as the birth rates in the United States continue to decline. The “replacement rate” of 2.1 needs to be adapted in countries with a falling birth rate. The 2.1 signifies each mother having 2.1 babies, while the birth rate in America currently stands at 1.6.
Several members of the Trump administration, including Elon Musk and JD Vance, have spoken in favour of pro-natalism. “Instead of teaching fear of pregnancy, we should teach fear of childlessness,” the Tesla CEO once shared. The billionaire has also claimed that the “ biggest danger civilization faces” is the falling birth rates.
USA birth rate has been below min sustainable levels for ~50 years pic.twitter.com/v5PSLbvEAE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2022
Vance took the opportunity in his first address as the Vice President to vocalise his agenda. “I want more babies in the United States of America,” the Republican was heard declaring.
Donald Trump has signed an executive order titled ‘Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization.’ The order noted the importance of “family formation.” It also states how it is only right for the “nation’s public policy” to make it “easier for loving and longing” parents to have children.
The Trump administration has made its stance on the movement very clear: the verdict is pro-natalism. At the beginning of the year, a Department of Transportation memo emphasized the need to prioritize the importance of giving “preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”
Declining birth rates can have drastic long-term effects on the economy of a country. The low birth rate directly ties to the youth dependency rates. The factors that are affected negatively due to a low birth rate are labor shortages and, in turn the economic growth.
US birthrate falls sharply. For some it’s because women want education, careers. For most, its rising debts + poor family income prospects. By making kids unaffordable, a declining capitalism ups its human costs.
Source: https://t.co/IkWQJynu4T pic.twitter.com/EunnFhHbyw
— Richard D. Wolff (@profwolff) June 23, 2021
A Gallup poll revealed that Americans do not seem averse to the idea of having children. In 2023, 47% of Americans voted in favor of having 1 to 2 children. 2% voted in favor of not having any children.
A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in the same year tells a different story. 47% of the poll takers who were below the age of 50 said it was unlikely they would have children. The rest of the 40% said it was possible to have children with the current “state of the world.”
