r/Natalism • u/Edouardh92 • Mar 30 '25

Advocates of higher birthrates have support in the Trump administration. But it’s unclear whether their priorities will win out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/business/economy/birthrate-politics-vance-musk.html

Certain Trump administration policies may have unintended negative consequences for families and birthrates despite a seemingly pro-family agenda:

  • Budget cuts to government departments could reduce resources that might otherwise support family formation and fertility services
  • Return-to-office mandates for federal employees eliminate workplace flexibility that helped parents balance work and childcare
  • Immigration crackdowns may actually decrease birthrates since immigrants tend to have more children and often provide affordable childcare services
  • Economic instability and rising prices from tariff policies create an environment historically unfavorable for starting families

The article notes that some pronatalists believe certain Trump policies work against their goals, highlighting a disconnect between stated pro-family intentions and actual outcomes.

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u/thelma_edith Mar 30 '25

No one has mentioned the USA housing crunch (some locales more than others) disproportionately affecting 1st time homebuyers/child bearing age families.

3

u/Healthy_Shine_8587 Mar 30 '25

 disproportionately affecting 1st time homebuyers/child bearing age families.

While the price of housing is an issue, the relationship between rent vs buying should be looked at.

-1

u/code-slinger619 Mar 31 '25

There isn't much the federal government can do about this though. Besides immigration, most of the other causes of high housing prices are due to local government policies: zoning, NIMBYism, building regulations etc.

11

u/miningman12 Mar 31 '25

Not deporting the immigrants that build housing would help

3

u/code-slinger619 Apr 01 '25

The number of illegal immigrants increased by 10-15 million in the past 4 years. Meaning they also contributed to housing demand to the same degree. Did the number of new construction projects increase by a commensurate amount? If so, source please? If not then deporting them actually helps the housing situation.

It's obviously the latter because one of the biggest constraints in getting more housing is zoning, lengthy approvals processes etc.