Latest news with #HouseDemocraticWomen'sCaucus
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump wants to pay couples $5,000 to have babies - Democrats want to throw out the idea with the bathwater
The Trump administration is reportedly hard at work looking for ways to incentivize people to have more children, with the president calling one such proposal, a $5,000 'baby bonus' for recent parents, a 'good idea' last month. The White House has also reportedly fielded proposals about bestowing a 'National Medal of Motherhood' to mothers with six or more children. Democrats, for their part, say they're supportive of ways to support new parents, but that Trump and his allies have the wrong approach. 'If you want to encourage families to have children and be serious about it, then you would work to lower costs, build economic security for families,' Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut told NBC News. 'There's a little incongruity here between talking about encouraging women to have more children and families to have more children and at the same time, really putting up enormous obstacles,' she added, pointing to Republican discussions to cut as much as $880 billion from Medicaid as part of budget negotiations. Last week, the House Democratic Women's Caucus wrote to Trump, calling his potential baby boom ideas 'out of step with reality,' and at odds with the administration's moves cutting maternal health and child initiatives, firing maternal health and fertility researchers at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and proposing to defund the Head Start early education program. Trump administration interest in increasing births comes as White House looks to cut health and early childhood spending (Getty) 'You've thrown our economy into chaos, making everyday essentials more expensive and making family budgeting nearly impossible,' the letter reads. 'This is not a 'pro-family' agenda.' In early April, a group of Senate Democrats introduced a proposal to permanently increase the Child Tax Credit for middle- and low-income families, which was temporarily expanded during the pandemic. 'The expanded Child Tax Credit benefited 61 million American kids, helped cut childhood poverty nearly in half, and cut hunger by a quarter for families,' Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado wrote in a statement accompanying the proposal. 'Parents across Colorado told me it reduced their stress and made it easier for them to afford child care, rent, and school supplies. It was the best thing we've done for kids and families in generations.' Experts say longer-term investments in healthcare, child care, and family leave will do more to support new families than a one-time payment, while bringing the U.S. in line with wealthy peer nations that typically offer far more social support for new parents. 'I had a baby a few months ago, and a one-time payment of $5,000 wouldn't do much if I didn't also have paid leave that let me keep my job, good health insurance, family support, incredible childcare and the kind of job that allows me to both provide for my family and be there for pickup,' Lily Roberts, managing director for inclusive growth at the Center for American Progress, toldThe Guardian. 'Every mom in America deserves that, and every dad does too.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump wants to pay couples $5,000 to have babies - Democrats want to throw out the idea with the bathwater
Trump wants to pay couples $5,000 to have babies - Democrats want to throw out the idea with the bathwater Trump wants to pay couples $5,000 to have babies - Democrats want to throw out the idea with the bathwater The Trump administration is reportedly hard at work looking for ways to incentivize people to have more children, with the president calling one such proposal, a $5,000 'baby bonus' for recent parents, a 'good idea' last month. The White House has also reportedly fielded proposals about bestowing a 'National Medal of Motherhood' to mothers with six or more children. Democrats, for their part, say they're supportive of ways to support new parents, but that Trump and his allies have the wrong approach. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 'If you want to encourage families to have children and be serious about it, then you would work to lower costs, build economic security for families,' Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut told NBC News. 'There's a little incongruity here between talking about encouraging women to have more children and families to have more children and at the same time, really putting up enormous obstacles,' she added, pointing to Republican discussions to cut as much as $880 billion from Medicaid as part of budget negotiations. Last week, the House Democratic Women's Caucus wrote to Trump, calling his potential baby boom ideas 'out of step with reality,' and at odds with the administration's moves cutting maternal health and child initiatives, firing maternal health and fertility researchers at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and proposing to defund the Head Start early education program. Trump administration interest in increasing births comes as White House looks to cut health and early childhood spending (Getty) 'You've thrown our economy into chaos, making everyday essentials more expensive and making family budgeting nearly impossible,' the letter reads. 'This is not a 'pro-family' agenda.' ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In early April, a group of Senate Democrats introduced a proposal to permanently increase the Child Tax Credit for middle- and low-income families, which was temporarily expanded during the pandemic. 'The expanded Child Tax Credit benefited 61 million American kids, helped cut childhood poverty nearly in half, and cut hunger by a quarter for families,' Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado wrote in a statement accompanying the proposal. 'Parents across Colorado told me it reduced their stress and made it easier for them to afford child care, rent, and school supplies. It was the best thing we've done for kids and families in generations.' Experts say longer-term investments in healthcare, child care, and family leave will do more to support new families than a one-time payment, while bringing the U.S. in line with wealthy peer nations that typically offer far more social support for new parents. 'I had a baby a few months ago, and a one-time payment of $5,000 wouldn't do much if I didn't also have paid leave that let me keep my job, good health insurance, family support, incredible childcare and the kind of job that allows me to both provide for my family and be there for pickup,' Lily Roberts, managing director for inclusive growth at the Center for American Progress, toldThe Guardian. 'Every mom in America deserves that, and every dad does too.'
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic women don't want the White House talking about raising birth rates
Democrats are slamming policy proposals the Trump administration is reportedly considering that aim to raise birth rates in the United States and encourage women to have children, arguing they should instead enact paid leave and expand the current child tax credit to better support mothers and families. The debates over family policy come as congressional Republicans hammer out a tax and spending cut bill that could significantly reduce funding for policies and programs focused on supporting women and families. On Tuesday, the House Democratic Women's Caucus sent a letter to Trump, shared first with The 19th, expressing their 'outrage' that the White House is weighing policy proposals to raise birth rates while implementing sweeping cuts to federal employees and programs that focus on researching fertility and maternal health. 'We write not only as lawmakers, but also as women and mothers who have lived these struggles,' said the letter, signed by Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico, the caucus' chair, and 38 other House Democratic women lawmakers. 'Many of us have raised children while working full-time, struggled to find and afford child care, navigated high-risk pregnancies, and fought for paid leave and affordable health care,' the letter said. 'If you are serious about supporting women and families, we urge you to rescind these proposals and invest in policies that actually meet the needs of women and working families.' The New York Times reported last week that White House aides have fielded proposals aimed at increasing birth rates and encouraging women to have children. They've included reserving a portion of government-sponsored academic scholarships like the Fulbright, which is already selective, for married people and parents; giving a $5,000 'baby bonus' to new mothers; and allocating more government funding for menstrual cycle education and classes. In their letter, the Democratic Women's Caucus members said 'the reported proposals are not only ineffective and out of step with reality, but they also fail to seriously address the challenges of motherhood.' Social conservatives and Trump have been engaged in a long-standing, if transactional, alliance to limit abortion and promote an ideal of a heterosexual nuclear family. In Trump's first campaign for the presidency, he promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would vote to end a federal right to abortion. After the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision in 2022, ending federal abortion rights and sending decisions about it to the states, social conservative activists have turned their focus to limiting the availability of medication abortion and increasing birth rates. Trump has called himself 'the fertilization president' and pledged to make in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment more affordable on the campaign trail, despite some anti-abortion groups' opposition to IVF. So-called pronatalists, who believe that falling birth rates pose an existential threat to American society, have gotten the ear of the White House. One of the most visible pronatalists is billionaire Elon Musk, the world's richest person and someone who has fathered over a dozen children and is also a prominent Trump ally. Trump has told reporters that he thought the baby bonus, which would have to be funded by an act of Congress, was 'a good idea.' But Democrats and family policy advocates have panned the proposal as insufficient to support families given the high costs of raising a child. Republicans also generally oppose increasing spending on social programs. The United States remains one of the only wealthy nations without universal paid leave, and many parents struggle to afford child care. Republicans' sprawling tax and spending cut agenda could bring cuts to programs including Medicaid, federal food assistance and Head Start, which provides early education services to low-income children. It's unclear whether the bill will permanently increase the current child tax credit, which was temporarily expanded during the pandemic and has bipartisan support. 'It is estimated parents spend over $20,000 in the first year of a baby's life,' the letter said. 'A $5,000 baby bonus could help families—but mothers deserve support to care for their families, not pressure to grow them.' Prominent pronatalist advocates Simone and Malcolm Collins have also pitched the White House on bestowing a 'National Medal of Motherhood' to women who have six or more children, The Times reported, drawing comparisons to similar medals given out to mothers of multiple children in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia under Joseph Stalin. The Democratic Women's Caucus letter charged that the idea 'is taken directly out of the playbook of authoritarian regimes designed to control women and restrict how families live — it's appalling.' Instead, Democratic women said, the Trump administration should support establishing paid leave, making child care more affordable, investing in women's health research and expanding the child tax credit. 'We are committed to building a country where every woman and every family has the freedom —and the resources—to decide if, when, and how to grow their family,' the letter said. 'Women are not mere vessels for childbirth as contemplated in The Handmaid's Tale.' The post Democratic women don't want the White House talking about raising birth rates appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why Democrats Showed Up in Pink to Trump's Speech
It's no coincidence that several Democratic lawmakers—all women—showed up in pink to President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. New Mexico Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, the chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, said they did it to send Trump a message. 'Women are claiming pink as a color of protest, as a color of power, and we are protesting what is happening right now,' Leger Fernández said in a press conference prior to the speech, adding that the outfits were meant to draw attention to the way the Trump administration is 'negatively impacting women and families.' Other Democratic lawmakers stood behind Leger Fernández at the press conference donning varying shades of pink. California Rep. Judy Chu held up a sign that read 'Trump betrays women for billionaire tax cuts.' House Democratic Women's Caucus holds news conference ahead of Pres. Trump remarks to Congress: LIVE HAPPENING NOW: The House Democratic Women's Caucus holds a news conference ahead of Pres. Trump remarks to Congress. Posted by ABC News on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 'We cannot afford the discrimination he is unleashing against women everywhere,' Leger Fernández said, slamming Trump and his administration for everything 'from firing admirals at the Coast Guard to cutting women's health research and slashing programs to combat violence against women.' Democratic women in Congress have worn white outfits every year since the first Trump administration to honor the suffragettes. Other Democratic lawmakers reportedly had their own forms of protest planned ahead of Trump's speech. Six Democrats told Axios they were considering several options to protest Trump's speech, from holding up signs with anti-Trump or anti-DOGE messages to bringing empty egg cartons to highlight rising inflation. The use of noisemakers such as hand clappers and a walkout were also floated. 'The part that we all agree on is that this is not business as usual and we would like to find a way—productively—to express our outrage,' a House Democrat told Axios.
