2025-06-23
6 分钟The Economist.
America's politicians have babies on the brain.
In February, President Donald Trump told officials to make IVF cheaper.
Even without its pro-creator-in-chief, Elon Musk,
the White House is thought to be working on a bigger package of pro-natalist policies.
Vice President J.D.
Vance is keen.
Mr. Trump says he favours a $5,000 handout for new parents.
In Britain, meanwhile, Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK,
a magarish opposition party,
has proposed tax breaks and benefits to encourage women to have more children.
Politicians have long feared the fiscal consequences of an ageing population,
with too few young workers supporting legions of pensioners.
Governments in places with very low birth rates, such as Japan and South Korea,
have spent billions trying to reverse the decline, with little success.
The new,
pronatalist policies of the transatlantic right differ from older ones in that they are more targeted at working-class women,
whose fertility rate has fallen the most.
That might make them a bit more effective.
but not at a reasonable cost or without creating perverse incentives.