Fulbright scholarships set aside for married people and parents. Programs to teach people about menstrual cycles and the best times to get pregnant. A $5,000 “baby bonus.” These are some of the ideas floated by the Trump administration to motivate people to have more children as birth rates continue to decline. But some parents say this is not what they need for support.
What might help families instead are social safety nets to ease the cost of child rearing, according to Northeastern University experts. “Choices around family planning are so personal,” said Kristen Lee, teaching professor of behavioral science at Northeastern. “Even the idea that people want to have children is very personal. But we also know that even if they do want that, there are many factors, especially cost, (that make people) hesitate to have children.”
