How America’s Baby Bust Became an Election Issue

America’s falling birthrate is becoming a bigger issue in this year’s election. 

A small but dedicated cadre of advocates has pushed the topic to the forefront of conservative policy agendas in Washington and Silicon Valley, warning that U.S. economic growth and the solvency of Social Security depend on lifting fertility from its record-low levels. Democrats, meanwhile, are offering more support for new parents through Vice President Kamala Harris’s Opportunity Economy plan without explicitly tying it to incentivizing childbearing.

The latest campaign offering came this past week, when former President Donald Trump proposed federal funding for in vitro fertilization or forcing insurers to pay for the costly procedure. The Republican presidential nominee also said he would let parents deduct major newborn expenses from their taxes.

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