Trump Says Baby Bonus for Moms ‘Sounds Like a Good Idea’

Birth rates have been on the decline since the 1960s, reaching a record low in 2023.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after hosting the ceremonial swearing-in for Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins in the Oval Office at the White House on April 22, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump has signaled a willingness to issue a financial bonus to mothers when they give birth.

The president was asked by reporters on April 22 whether he might consider “some kind of bonus” to women for having a child. The New York Times recently reported, citing anonymous sources, that administration officials are looking into a financial reward to increase the U.S. birth rate.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Trump said in response before quickly moving on to another question. The president did not go into any other specifics about the alleged proposal.

Other administration officials have suggested they favor policies aimed at increasing U.S. birth rates amid decades of decline.

Earlier this year, Vice President JD Vance said during his first public speaking event as vice president that he wanted “more babies” being born in the United States, adding that American “society has failed to recognize the obligation that one generation has to another as a core part of living in a society.”

“We failed a generation not only by permitting a culture of abortion on demand, but also by neglecting to help young parents achieve the ingredients they need to lead a happy and meaningful life,” he said.

Special government employee Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, has repeatedly said that declining birth rates in the West could lead to a collapse of civilization.

“There’s a lot of things that I worry about,” the Tesla CEO told Fox News late last month. “The birth rate is very low in almost every country, and unless that changes, civilization will disappear. America had the lowest birth rate ever. That was last year. Humanity is dying.”

In another warning, Musk wrote on April 22 that “low birth rates will end civilization” in a post on social media platform X that was in response to posted graphs showing a decline.

Births in the United States rose slightly in 2024. Slightly more than 3.6 million births were reported for 2024, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention preliminary data released in March. That’s 22,250 more than the final tally of 2023 U.S. births, which was released on April 22.

However, the United States has seen an overall decline in fertility since the 1960s. In 2023, the country hit a record low of 54.5 births per 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 44, or a 3 percent drop from 2022’s figures, according to the CDC.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office said in January that it lowered its projections for the U.S. population in 30 years to 372 million residents, a 2.8 percent drop from last year, citing declining birth rates and less expected immigration.

The budget office last year had projected that 383 million people would be living in the United States in 30 years.

The U.S. population was estimated at 341 million residents on New Year’s Day and is expected to grow to 350 million people by year’s end.