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Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Meet the Maga moms inspired to have children for Trump
Los Angeles-born and Ivy League-educated, Peachy Keenan isn't the typical picture of a pro-natalist. Yet the married, mother of five is part of a growing movement of mostly Catholic, well-educated women in deep blue California inspired by Donald Trump's calls to have more children. 'To save the country, we need to get out and push the babies out, and to do it in mass scale,' she said. Ms Keenan, who gave up her job to raise her children, aged eight to 19, added: 'When did raising your own baby become this political taboo?' On the campaign trail, Mr Trump pledged to bring about a 'baby boom' to tackle America's ailing birth rate and has since proposed a slew of policies to encourage women to have more children, including paying them. National fertility rates sat at 1.63 per cent last year, slightly higher than a record low set in 2023, but far below the rate needed for a generation to replace itself. The fertility drive has been taken up with abandon by members of Mr Trump's cabinet, with Sean Duffy, the transport secretary and a father of nine, suggesting grants be funnelled into communities with higher marriage and birth rates. His comments echo an agenda pushed by senior Trump allies Elon Musk, a father of 14, and vice-president JD Vance. Whether it's Mr Musk's six-year-old son, X, sitting on his father's shoulder, or Mr Vance's child patting his parents on the head during the inauguration, the second Trump administration has set a new standard for making children a visible part of day-to-day operations. When she's not blasting reporters in the briefing room, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also occasionally brings her nine-month-old son to the office. 'I am deeply proud to support a president and administration so keenly aware of the attack waged against the family in the West today and doing what they can to combat it,' said Isabel Brown, 27, who captioned a picture of herself on social media, cradling her bump with 'Project 2025'. The married content creator and author gave birth to her first child in recent weeks – the first of several, she hopes. 'The Trump administration has started some powerful conversations here in the United States about our fertility crisis,' she said. 'I can tell you that almost all of my friends are currently getting married, are pregnant, or just had their first babies. 'It's an incredibly exciting time to be at the forefront of this fight for the family.' The goal to supercharge birth rates has created an 'unholy alliance' between two wings of the movement, according to Catherine Pakulak, an economist at the Catholic University of America, who is a mother of eight herself. On one hand, there are pro-family voices such as Mr Vance, who has said he wants 'more babies in America', 'not just because they are economically useful. We want more babies because children are good'. Then there is the pro-natalist wing, led by Mr Musk, who has warned 'civilisation is going to crumble' if fertility rates do not climb. 'You talk about it because it excites part of your base. It's clearly the pro-family and pro-life part of the Republican party,' explained Ms Pakulak. Despite their shared objectives, the two factions' means of achieving their aims could not be more different. Flag-bearers of the pro-natalist movement Simone and Malcolm Collins, a Pennsylvania former tech-industry couple who have four children through IVF, have grabbed headlines by using genetic screening to select desirable characteristics in their offspring. Mr Musk has sparked fascination and outrage in equal measure through his efforts to breed a 'legion' of offspring, in part by recruiting potential mothers on X, according to The Wall Street Journal. For many on the pro-natalist wing, the desire to boost the fertility rate is driven by economic concerns. America's birth rate has been in decline since the early 1970s, and that has accelerated since the 2008 recession and the pandemic. According to Ms Pakulak, the author of Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth, the long-term decline is fuelled by a range of factors, including economic growth and mechanisation, whereby children are no longer needed in the workforce; and improved social security, meaning parents no longer need to rely on their children to take care of them in old age. The other driving forces are effective contraception, giving women the ability to select when and how many children they want to have; and economic uncertainty. 'When there is uncertainty and distress, people postpone having children, and some fraction of people who postpone will never have that baby,' she explained. If left unchecked, there are fears the country could end up in a similar position to South Korea or Japan, where a perfect storm of increased life expectancy and a precipitous decline in birth rates to as low as 0.78 has led to economic stagnation, with the shrinking workforce propping up a growing population of retirees. However, discourse around the issue is often coloured by a more contentious vision: one tainted by ethno-nationalism and fears over immigration. A $10,000-a-ticket pro-natalist conference in Austin, Texas, last month featured speakers promoting conspiracy theories and, allegedly, eugenics, according to The Daily Wire. Ms Keenan, who attended this same conference, dismissed these views as belonging to a 'tiny fringe' who are not representative of her community. 'The women I know who are deciding to have kids have literally no idea about population decline,' she said. 'They're not thinking about it in racial terms. They would find that lens super gross and super offensive.' Ms Pakulak said: 'What seems very difficult is to get people to have kids who don't want them.' Birth rates aside, many pro-family Trump supporters are chiefly concerned with the decline in family values and view the single-parenting birth factory goals of Mr Musk as anathema to their own. 'I am incredibly sceptical of any proposal that makes children a means to an end,' said Emma Waters, a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. And many of those who support the Trump fertility drive remain completely unaware of being part of a political movement. Elissa Fernandez, 43, a mother of eight from Seattle, said she had never heard of pro-natalism, and never set out to have lots of kids, as did Kamiyo Culbertson, 60, a married mother of nine from Washington State. However, Ms Culbertson welcomed Mr Trump's push for women to have more children. 'It's encouraging to hear,' she said. 'I think there's been a leaning the other way – don't get married, don't have kids, that's definitely the story we got from our culture.' Peachy Keenan is the author of Domestic Extremist: A Practical Guide to Winning the Culture War Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Meet the Maga moms inspired to have children for Trump
Los Angeles-born and Ivy League-educated, Peachy Keenan isn't the typical picture of a pro-natalist. Yet the married, mother of five is part of a growing movement of mostly Catholic, well-educated women in deep blue California inspired by Donald Trump 's calls to have more children. 'To save the country, we need to get out and push the babies out, and to do it in mass scale,' she said. Ms Keenan, who gave up her job to raise her children, aged eight to 19, added: 'When did raising your own baby become this political taboo?' On the campaign trail, Mr Trump pledged to bring about a 'baby boom' to tackle America's ailing birth rate and has since proposed a slew of policies to encourage women to have more children, including paying them. National fertility rates sat at 1.63 per cent last year, slightly higher than a record low set in 2023, but far below the rate needed for a generation to replace itself. The fertility drive has been taken up with abandon by members of Mr Trump's cabinet, with Sean Duffy, the transport secretary and a father of nine, suggesting grants be funnelled into communities with higher marriage and birth rates. His comments echo an agenda pushed by senior Trump allies Elon Musk, a father of 14, and vice-president JD Vance. Whether it's Mr Musk's six-year-old son, X, sitting on his father's shoulder, or Mr Vance's child patting his parents on the head during the inauguration, the second Trump administration has set a new standard for making children a visible part of day-to-day operations. When she's not blasting reporters in the briefing room, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also occasionally brings her nine-month-old son to the office. 'I am deeply proud to support a president and administration so keenly aware of the attack waged against the family in the West today and doing what they can to combat it,' said Isabel Brown, 27, who captioned a picture of herself on social media, cradling her bump with ' Project 2025 '. The married content creator and author gave birth to her first child in recent weeks – the first of several, she hopes. 'The Trump administration has started some powerful conversations here in the United States about our fertility crisis,' she said. 'I can tell you that almost all of my friends are currently getting married, are pregnant, or just had their first babies. 'It's an incredibly exciting time to be at the forefront of this fight for the family.' The goal to supercharge birth rates has created an 'unholy alliance' between two wings of the movement, according to Catherine Pakulak, an economist at the Catholic University of America, who is a mother of eight herself. On one hand, there are pro-family voices such as Mr Vance, who has said he wants 'more babies in America', 'not just because they are economically useful. We want more babies because children are good'. Then there is the pro-natalist wing, led by Mr Musk, who has warned 'civilisation is going to crumble' if fertility rates do not climb. 'You talk about it because it excites part of your base. It's clearly the pro-family and pro-life part of the Republican party,' explained Ms Pakulak. Despite their shared objectives, the two factions' means of achieving their aims could not be more different. Flag-bearers of the pro-natalist movement Simone and Malcolm Collins, a Pennsylvania former tech-industry couple who have four children through IVF, have grabbed headlines by using genetic screening to select desirable characteristics in their offspring. Mr Musk has sparked fascination and outrage in equal measure through his efforts to breed a 'legion' of offspring, in part by recruiting potential mothers on X, according to The Wall Street Journal. For many on the pro-natalist wing, the desire to boost the fertility rate is driven by economic concerns. America's birth rate has been in decline since the early 1970s, and that has accelerated since the 2008 recession and the pandemic. According to Ms Pakulak, the author of Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth, the long-term decline is fuelled by a range of factors, including economic growth and mechanisation, whereby children are no longer needed in the workforce; and improved social security, meaning parents no longer need to rely on their children to take care of them in old age. The other driving forces are effective contraception, giving women the ability to select when and how many children they want to have; and economic uncertainty. 'When there is uncertainty and distress, people postpone having children, and some fraction of people who postpone will never have that baby,' she explained. If left unchecked, there are fears the country could end up in a similar position to South Korea or Japan, where a perfect storm of increased life expectancy and a precipitous decline in birth rates to as low as 0.78 has led to economic stagnation, with the shrinking workforce propping up a growing population of retirees. However, discourse around the issue is often coloured by a more contentious vision: one tainted by ethno-nationalism and fears over immigration. A $10,000-a-ticket pro-natalist conference in Austin, Texas, last month featured speakers promoting conspiracy theories and, allegedly, eugenics, according to The Daily Wire. Ms Keenan, who attended this same conference, dismissed these views as belonging to a 'tiny fringe' who are not representative of her community. 'The women I know who are deciding to have kids have literally no idea about population decline,' she said. 'They're not thinking about it in racial terms. They would find that lens super gross and super offensive.' Ms Pakulak said: 'What seems very difficult is to get people to have kids who don't want them.' Birth rates aside, many pro-family Trump supporters are chiefly concerned with the decline in family values and view the single-parenting birth factory goals of Mr Musk as anathema to their own. 'I am incredibly sceptical of any proposal that makes children a means to an end,' said Emma Waters, a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. And many of those who support the Trump fertility drive remain completely unaware of being part of a political movement. Elissa Fernandez, 43, a mother of eight from Seattle, said she had never heard of pro-natalism, and never set out to have lots of kids, as did Kamiyo Culbertson, 60, a married mother of nine from Washington State. However, Ms Culbertson welcomed Mr Trump's push for women to have more children. 'It's encouraging to hear,' she said. 'I think there's been a leaning the other way – don't get married, don't have kids, that's definitely the story we got from our culture.'
Wall Street Journal
09-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Can Trump Raise the American Birthrate?
Editor's note: In this Future View, students discuss the potential for a baby boom. Next we'll ask: 'Are deportation policies for international college students fair, or should there be more protections in place?' Students should click here to submit opinions of fewer than 250 words by May 5. The best responses will be published Tuesday night. We Need an Economic Boom First If the White House wants a baby boom, its time is best spent trying to orchestrate an economic one. Consider Hungary, whose pronatalist policies are praised by Trump officials. Hungary spends 5% of gross domestic product on pro-birth policies, dwarfing the roughly 3.6% the U.S. spends on defense. Hungary's myriad birthrate inducements include income-tax reductions, subsidized mortgages, child-care allowances and interest-free loans of approximately $36,000, which are canceled if a couple has at least three children. These efforts make President Trump's proposed $5,000 'baby bonus'—the most ambitious pro-birth policy floated by the White House thus far—look paltry in comparison. Even if Mr. Trump proposed such an expensive policy apparatus, it wouldn't be the most efficient use of his political capital. Hungary's approach worked for a time, with the country's fertility rate rising through the 2010s to peak at 1.61 births per woman in 2021. It has declined notably in recent years, however, as birth incentives fail to outweigh rising costs and economic uncertainty. While Hungary's policies may help cushion the birthrate blow caused by a global economic contraction, Mr. Trump can do more if he governs judiciously to steer the U.S., and by extension the world, away from a global recession. It won't be only the U.S. birthrate that benefits from his actions. —Rachel Gambee, University of Oxford, Christian ethics We're All Depressed Why should people who don't feel optimistic about the future choose to procreate? Parenthood offers a purpose larger than oneself—a legacy, something to be proud of. It's a taxing responsibility, however, one that requires stability and hope. When people are anxious, uncertain and depressed, they tend to avoid such responsibilities. A 2016 study found that people satisfied with life are more likely to produce more life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 42% of high-school students report feeling sad or hopeless most of the time. Another study finds that 58% of young adults feel alone most of the time. This crisis is compounded by economic challenges. A 2021 LinkedIn study found that nearly 40% of entry-level job postings require three years of experience, leaving young Americans shut out, even amid labor shortages. Better mental health, increased economic opportunity and national optimism are the ingredients for a baby boom. The White House must tackle these issues by prioritizing mental-health reform, ensuring fair economic opportunities, and restoring hope in America's future. Only then will we see a future where young Americans feel confident enough to build families and invest in tomorrow. —Mohammad Namous, Moravian University, political science Inspire the Young The Trump administration should champion emerging fertility technology to spur population growth. In vitro fertilization and advanced fertility treatments have transformed the American family's ability to have children. Millions face infertility, and while Mr. Trump supports IVF, his February executive order to expand fertility treatments doesn't do enough. The Trump administration should launch a campaign focused on the consequences of declining birthrates and what new technology can do to mitigate it. It should spotlight Americans who have reshaped society: Who will be the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Sally Ride or Sonia Sotomayor? These people, products of a robust generation with robust birthrates, have driven the nation forward. This is an opportunity for the administration to inspire the next generation of Americans. —Devin Mehta, University of Wisconsin-Madison, finance Turn to the Church, Not the White House A birthrate in decline is the mark of a nation in decline. America—like much of the developed world—is no longer maintaining its population through births. While it's encouraging that the Trump administration is concerned, the real problem is one of spiritual well-being. Only a return to religion will usher in a baby boom. America's declining birthrate is often attributed to unaffordable housing and child care, economic immobility and a host of others issues that justify expanded government interference. But this fails to address the root of a global issue. While the world's wealthiest—and least religious—nations are seeing a baby bust, the poorest—and most religious—are witnessing a baby boom. Declining birthrates aren't the result of an economic problem. They are a consequence of a religious problem. The administration still ought to pursue a pro-family agenda. Providing incentives narrowly targeted at young families in need can be helpful. Public policy, however, can go only so far. An encouraging number of young Americans are converting to Catholicism—embracing orthodoxy and tradition. This trend must continue. The administration should be applauded for trying to encourage a baby boom. But the answer will be found in the church, not the White House. —Connor Lee, Gonzaga University, political science Click here to submit a response to next week's Future View.
Washington Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Republicans can't buy their way to more babies
The White House is very concerned with young people's babymaking. President Donald Trump is considering ideas like a $5,000 'baby bonus' for new moms to encourage a baby boom, a step down from an even more ambitious $5,000 child tax credit idea from Vice President JD Vance, a longtime evangelist for encouraging more kids. 'I want more babies in the United States of America,' he declared in his very first public speech as vice president.
