The Heritage Foundation, the leading conservative think tank in the United States, has released a comprehensive policy proposal arguing that the government should actively intervene to promote marriage and childbirth.
According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 8th, the Heritage Foundation prepared a policy proposal titled "Saving America by Saving the Family." Earlier, ahead of the launch of the second Donald Trump administration, the foundation released a large-scale policy compendium called "Project 2025," many parts of which were adopted as actual administration policy, proving its influence.
In the proposal, the foundation defined low birthrates as "a crisis of national identity," saying, "Falling fertility is a sign of a culture that has lost hope in the future." In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the U.S. population is expected to enter a period of stagnation in 2056 and then begin to decline, and without immigrants, deaths are projected to outnumber births starting in 2030.
In response, the proposal detailed a package of policies across tax, welfare, culture, and technology regulation through which the government could encourage heterosexual marriage and childbirth. Calling on President Trump and Congress to "restore and protect American families," the foundation proposed, among other items, large tax credits for families with multiple children, setting caps on alimony, and tightening eligibility for welfare benefits.
Unusual policies that would greatly expand the scope for government intervention were also included. Unprecedented, sweeping measures—such as curbing online dating apps, introducing a "marriage boot camp" for engaged couples, and paying a "marriage maintenance reward" every 10 years—were presented as ways to help raise marriage and fertility rates.
The foundation called for stronger regulations on social media (SNS) and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on the grounds that they negatively affect family formation. It proposed limiting access to SNS and certain AI chatbots to those 16 and older and adding further age restrictions for pornography. It also pointed to "alarm over climate change" as a factor in falling birthrates and suggested scaling back related discourse.
It took an even tougher stance on bioethics. The government, it argued, should make clear the principle of "protecting life from the moment of conception," and in vitro fertilization (IVF) and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) are inappropriate because they manipulate and destroy embryos. This differs from President Trump's pledge during the 2024 election to "expand insurance coverage for IVF."
However, some say the Heritage Foundation has lost its previous ideological identity with this proposal. Whereas the foundation had emphasized small government and free-market principles under conservative ideology, this time it presented as a basic premise that the government should actively intervene even in private spheres such as childbirth, marriage, and family formation.
Joel Griffith, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank Advancing American Freedom, said, "The foundation misdiagnosed the causes of the fertility decline, and there is little evidence that the fiscal and cultural incentives described in the proposal would actually lead to higher birthrates," adding, "In the end, (the proposal) is an approach to create a new social security program for the middle class and upper middle class."
There are also concerns that some policies could clash with state government authority. Joanna Grossman, a professor at the Southern Methodist University law school, said, "It's a very bold claim for the federal government to step in to 'restore' family law across the board," adding, "It reads as an attempt to change how people think and behave."
Meanwhile, the proposal is said to have been completed amid ongoing internal turmoil at the Heritage Foundation. Earlier, after foundation president Kevin Roberts publicly defended Tucker Carlson of Fox News, who interviewed white supremacist Nick Fuentes, the foundation experienced internal strife, including resignations by senior officials and staff departures.
In the process, ultra-radical policies that were initially included in the draft—such as granting "proxy voting rights" to children, raising divorce expense, enacting adultery laws, and a total ban on pornography—were excluded, WP reported.