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Statement

Moms Leader: Ideas White House Is Reportedly Considering to Boost Birth Rates Are ‘Sheer Lunacy’

April 21, 2025
Paid Family & Medical Leave, Equal Pay, Maternal Health, Reproductive Justice, Early Care & Education, Federal Budget, Health Care, Immigration

Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996

Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on reports the White House is considering a series of bizarre pronatalist proposals to convince families to have more children:

“There’s no question that families need policies that make it possible for moms and parents to care for their kids, go to work, and contribute to their communities. That’s why moms across the country are demanding quality, affordable child, elder and disability care; fair pay; access to maternal and all health care; and paid family and medical leave for when we have babies, our kids get sick, or we need to provide elder care or recover from serious illness. This President has had endless opportunities to support those tried-and-true, proven policies that lift families and our economy, but his administrations have utterly failed to do so. Instead of making it possible for moms and families to thrive, Republicans in Congress are poised to slash Medicaid, SNAP, and school meals. The so-called Department of Government Efficiency cut staff at the maternal mental health hotline. There are reports that President Trump may defund Head Start in his FY2026 budget. It’s no wonder that so many families hesitate to have more children when Republicans have blocked progress on the policies families with children urgently need.

“The proposals the Trump administration are reportedly considering will not open avenues for moms, families and our economy to thrive. They are sheer lunacy – coercive, counterproductive recipes for failure. One-time baby bonuses are no substitute for a permanently expanded monthly Child Tax Credit. Reserving Fulbright Scholarships for women who are married or have children is no substitute for measures to close the wage gap. Menstrual education is a poor substitute for the health care access and reproductive freedom this administration has taken away from tens of millions of U.S. women.

“Further, the deep history of racism that pervades the pronatalist movement cannot be overlooked and neither can the fact that this administration’s anti-family agenda is separating primarily brown and Black immigrant families, many with children who are U.S. citizens. 

“Those who want families to have more babies should support the policies that build the care infrastructure families and businesses need. When we become a family friendly country, families will have more children.”

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, stop discrimination against women and moms, and build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: www.MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.