The Trump administration is exploring a $5,000 "baby bonus" for new mothers to address the United States' declining birth rate, which hit a historic low of 1.62 births per woman in 2023, well below the 2.1 replacement level.

This initiative, requiring Congressional approval, is part of a broader pronatalist agenda to encourage marriage and childbirth, championed by figures like Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk. The U.S. fertility rate has been dropping for decades, with 3.6 million babies born in 2024, and a slight uptick in 2024 failing to reverse the long-term decline.

Other proposals include reserving 30% of Fulbright scholarships for married individuals or parents, expanding child tax credits, and promoting "natural fertility" education, such as menstrual cycle tracking to aid conception without birth control.

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The Heritage Foundation, linked to Project 2025, is among the conservative groups advising the White House, emphasizing traditional family values. Trump, who has called himself the "fertilization president," previously teased the baby bonus idea at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference.

Critics argue that the $5,000 bonus alone is insufficient, pointing to deeper issues like rising living costs, lack of paid family leave, and inadequate childcare and healthcare systems. Some highlight the U.S. maternal mortality crisis, particularly for Black women, and question the administration’s cuts to maternal health programs. Hungary’s pronatalist policies, which raised fertility from 1.4 to 1.6 between 2015 and 2021, suggest limited success for such measures.

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