The good news for Americans concerned about the country’s falling fertility rate is that only 44% of adults oppose policies that would “give Americans incentives to have children.”
The bad news is that just 33% support such policies, with a sizable 23% still unsure. And to be fair, I think those 23% have a point. The question is awkwardly phrased. A better question would be, “Do you support policies that help Americans get married and start families?”, but we can only work with the data polling firms give us. And, in this case, the April Yahoo survey conducted by YouGov sheds some surprising light on what a possible coalition for family-friendly policies could look like.
Considering that Democratic Party voters consistently place less importance on having children than Republican Party voters do, it is unsurprising that Republican opposition to government policies incentivising children is lower (36%-44%) than Democratic opposition (30%-51%). Voters who voted for former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Harris in the 2020 and 2024 elections show even more opposition to child incentives (28%-53%), while those who voted for Trump twice show the least opposition (37%-44%).
But turning to race, we start seeing some unexpected results. Black people, who, despite some gains by Trump, still overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party, are the demographic most likely to support government policies incentivising children. In fact, a plurality of them (39%-30%) support such an idea, compared to white people who oppose it (29%-51%).
Most surprisingly, older adults oppose incentivizing children the most. While a majority of young voters aged 18-29 support such policies (51%-22 %), and a plurality of those aged 30-44 do as well (43%-37 %), an overwhelming 58% of those over age 65 oppose incentivizing more children. Considering that the average Republican voter skews older than the average Democratic voter, this sentiment appears to cut against partisan lines.
The news for those who want to see Americans have more children looks a lot better when we turn to policy specifics. While “awarding a national medal of motherhood to women with at least six children” is overwhelmingly opposed (19%-64%), “making pre-kindergarten free for children ages 3 and 4” is supported by 79% of adults and only opposed by 11%.
Again, the wording of these questions matters. While a plurality of voters opposes “giving $5,000 cash to every American mother after delivery” (39%-41%), a solid majority supports “creating new child tax credits that would give $6,000 per child to families for the first year of a baby’s life” (62%-22%), which is essentially the same policy but with a work requirement added (you have to work and pay taxes to use a tax credit).
TRUMP’S DEPORTATION RECORD IS UNDERRATED
However, in every single one of these cases, the oldest voters, those over age 65, show the least support for helping young families.
Someone should tell these boomers that their Social Security checks are entirely dependent on the payroll taxes of future generations. No new children, no Social Security checks. That might get them to change their minds.