The White House is reportedly considering implementing incentives in order to get women to have more babies amid concerns of declining birth rates in the U.S., and at least one suggestion appears to be inspired by Adolf Hitler.
Officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have been quietly meeting with activists and birth advocates in order to come up with ideas — including payments and motherhood awards — to bolster the birth rates, according to The New York Times.
Per the outlet, one proposal reportedly being considered is to give a $5,000 cash “baby bonus” to American mothers after they have given birth.
Another proposal would allegedly bestow a “National Medal of Motherhood” to moms in the U.S. who have six or more children — a reward program that’s been utilized before by notable authoritarian world leaders.
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In 1930s Nazi Germany, Hitler introduced a similar “Cross of Honour of the German Mother,” a decorative medal that honored “children-rich” mothers of German heritage, with the exception of German Jews. The medals came in three “classes”: the Bronze Cross for mothers of four or five children; the Silver Cross for mothers with six or seven children; and the Gold Cross for mothers with eight or more children.
Six years after Hitler’s medal program was introduced — amid a World War II-inflicted population decline — Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin followed suit with the “Order of Maternal Glory,” also offering three tiers: Third Class for mothers of seven children; Second Class for mothers of eight children; and First Class for mothers of nine children.
Soviet women raising 10 or more children were given the title “Mother Heroine” up until the nation’s collapse in 1991. Current Russian President Vladimir Putin revived the Mother Heroine award in 2022, also throwing in a payment of 1 million rubles, equivalent to more than $12,000.
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Stock photo of a pregnant woman
According to The New York Times, Trump’s White House has also been pitched ideas to help incentivize single people to get married, including one that would “reserve 30% of scholarships for the Fulbright program, the prestigious, government-backed international fellowship, for applicants who are married or have children.”
Another idea submitted to the White House calls on the government to fund programs that “educate women on their menstrual cycles — in part so they can better understand when they are ovulating and able to conceive,” the outlet reported.
Lyman Stone, the director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies who pitched some policy ideas to the White House, told the Times that the administration “is listening to a lot of different ideas and soliciting input on all of this.”
He added, “I think they’re still having a conversation about what they want to do.”
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The White House did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the proposal.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Times in a statement that the president “is proudly implementing policies to uplift American families.”
“The President wants America to be a country where all children can safely grow up and achieve the American dream,” Leavitt, 27, continued. “As a mother myself, I am proud to work for a president who is taking significant action to leave a better country for the next generation.”
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Stock photo of a pregnant woman getting an ultrasound
Trump and several of his cabinet members, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Elon Musk — who has 14 children — have previously championed “pronatalism,” or the promotion of reproduction.
Vance, 40, previously shared during the campaign trail, per the Times, that he wanted “more babies in the United States of America” and more “beautiful young men and women” to raise them.
Trump, 78, also previously called for a “baby boom” during the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2023, and pledged last month to be “the fertilization president.”
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However, amid this push comes concerns about the families that do not fit into the traditional norms or roles, including queer parents, adoptive families and others, may be left out. Medical experts have also raised concerns about promoting reproductive practices that focus around cycles rather than IVF, which are more scientific, according to the Economic Times.
This comes amid a steady decline in birth rates in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control, birth rates have gone down every year since 2007. In 2009, there were 13.5 live births per 1,000 women, while in 2019, there were 11.4 live births per 1,000 women.
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