Make America Fertile Again: A Strategy Rooted in Work, Pride, and Patriotism
President Trump was elected to save the nation, not merely govern it. The distinction matters. Governing preserves the status quo. Saving requires vision, decisiveness, and a willingness to challenge sacred cows. Today, one such cow sits in plain sight: America is not having enough children. Our fertility rate has cratered to 1.66, a historic low, well below the 2.1 needed for generational replacement. If this trend continues, our future workforce will shrink, our Social Security system will collapse, and our nation’s cultural cohesion will erode. This is not speculation. It is arithmetic.
But the problem is not merely statistical. It is civilizational. America was once a place where having children was seen as both a duty and a joy. That cultural presumption has vanished. Young Americans, especially those who work, pay taxes, and keep the lights on, now view family formation as a luxury few can afford. And in a perverse twist, their tax dollars are often used to subsidize those who do not work and yet reproduce at higher rates. We are, in effect, penalizing the productive for not having children while rewarding dependency for doing so. This arrangement is as unsustainable as it is unjust.
To his credit, President Trump is uniquely suited to confront this issue. He has already shown a willingness to upend the bureaucratic order through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), founded by Elon Musk. But DOGE cannot merely eliminate waste. It must also redirect resources toward national renewal. And there is no more urgent target for that renewal than the American family. What follows is a policy proposal that aligns with Trumpian conservatism: pro-work, anti-bureaucracy, culturally confident, and unapologetically patriotic. It is a blueprint not for subsidizing dependence, but for unleashing a native-born American baby boom through the only mechanism that has ever worked in this country: making it profitable and honorable to start a family.
The first pillar of this proposal is to double the existing Child Tax Credit to $4,000 per child, with an increase to $6,000 for the third and any additional children. Crucially, this benefit should only be fully available to households with earned income, ensuring it rewards labor, not idleness. Unlike Europe’s one-size-fits-all welfare state, this approach would channel support to those who contribute to the nation’s productivity and future. A working family raising three children should not be treated the same as a non-working household that relies solely on state transfers. In Trump’s America, work is not only a source of dignity, it is the economic engine of generational survival.
Second, we propose the introduction of a Family First Housing Credit. Young families are delaying childbirth because they cannot afford a stable home. Let us solve that problem directly. Married couples who are purchasing their first home and expecting or recently welcoming their first child should be eligible for a $10,000 federal housing credit. For each additional child, that credit should rise by $5,000, up to a cap of three children. This benefit encourages marriage, homeownership, and early family formation, the very building blocks of American life.
Third, we must overhaul the tax code to reflect the social value of large families. Households with three or more dependent children under 18 should pay no federal income tax on the first $100,000 of household income. Furthermore, families with four or more children should receive an annual $10,000 Patriotic Family Bonus. This is not a giveaway. It is a form of earned gratitude. In an era when many institutions look askance at traditional parenthood, this policy declares in law what most Americans already know to be true: raising a large family is an act of civic virtue.
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, we must dismantle the bureaucratic machinery that undermines family formation in the first place. That means eliminating all DEI-related federal funding and redirecting the savings toward local childcare solutions. Specifically, these funds should be made available through tax credits to states that support employer-sponsored, faith-based, or community-run childcare initiatives. This avoids the creation of a new federal agency while empowering civil society, a cornerstone of conservative governance. Parents do not need another alphabet agency telling them how to raise their kids. They need time, support, and local institutions that reflect their values.
Finally, we need a cultural campaign that does not lecture or scold, but inspires. Call it: Be a Builder. Raise an American. This campaign would feature American families of all colors and creeds who are choosing to invest in the future by having children. It would elevate the status of parenthood to that of national service. After all, without parents, there are no soldiers, no scientists, no voters. There is no America. The campaign should be optimistic, masculine, and unapologetically pro-family, featuring veterans, small business owners, working mothers and fathers, and the next generation of Americans they are raising.
This proposal avoids the pitfalls of the European model, which lavishes billions in cash payments and extended leave policies with minimal demographic payoff. It also sidesteps the Left’s preferred solution: massive immigration to replace declining native birthrates. Immigration may temporarily patch the labor force, but it cannot replace a culture. Nor should it. America’s strength has always come from its ability to renew itself from within. That renewal begins with children born to families rooted in the country’s values and committed to its future.
The fertility crisis is not just a matter of demography. It is a question of sovereignty. A nation that cannot reproduce itself will be replaced—economically, culturally, and politically. President Trump understands this. He has spent a career identifying broken systems and fixing them with common sense, boldness, and an eye for results. The family is the first and most important system of all. It is time to fix it.
Let us give American families a reason to grow. Let us reward those who build the future. Let us make America fertile again—not through technocratic coercion or utopian schemes, but by doing what we have always done best: trusting Americans to lead, to work, and to raise the next generation of patriots.
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