AP Poll: Americans Want Child Care Help Over Higher Birth Rates/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ A new AP-NORC poll finds few Americans consider declining birth rates a major issue, with most prioritizing affordable child care and maternal health instead. Even Republicans lean toward support services over pronatalist policies. Proposals like a baby bonus remain divisive among voters.
Quick Look
Child Care vs Birth Rate Debate
- Poll: Only 12% want government to prioritize higher birth rates
- About 75% call child care costs a major problem
- Majority favor paid leave, better maternal health outcomes
- Pronatalist ideas resonate slightly more with conservatives, but remain low priority
- Trump’s proposed baby bonus splits opinion even among Republicans
Americans Want Government Focus on Child Care Costs, Not Birth Rates, Poll Shows
Deep Look
WASHINGTON (AP) — While the Trump administration is exploring ways to boost America’s birth rate, a new poll shows most Americans aren’t on board with prioritizing bigger families. Instead, U.S. adults overwhelmingly want the government to tackle soaring child care costs and improve health outcomes for pregnant women, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The movement to promote childbearing, known as pronatalism, has recently gained traction in tech circles and among religious conservatives. High-profile figures like Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance have argued that having more children is essential for society’s future.
Yet the AP-NORC poll found that only about three in 10 Americans see declining birth rates as a “major problem.” Even fewer—just 12%—believe encouraging families to have more kids should be a “high priority” for the federal government.
Even many Republicans, whose leaders have championed pronatalist ideas, say they’d rather see government efforts focused on making child care more affordable and ensuring better health care for pregnant women.
“It’s hard enough living as a couple, let alone raising kids,” said Misty Conklin, 50, a Trump supporter from Indiana, who believes government attention should go toward making it easier and cheaper to raise children—including supporting services for her disabled granddaughter.
Child Care Costs Outweigh Birth Rate Concerns
The poll reveals Americans’ deeper worry about the financial burden of raising children. About three-quarters of U.S. adults say child care costs are a “major problem,” including roughly eight in 10 Democrats and women and about seven in 10 Republicans and men.
Policies such as free or low-cost daycare for young children and paid family leave enjoy wide bipartisan support, with about two-thirds of Americans in favor.
Maria Appelbe, a Trump voter from Arizona, quit her job years ago to care for her daughter because child care was simply too expensive. “I was lucky enough that back then, without inflation, we could make it work,” said Appelbe, now 49.
Americans Aren’t Preoccupied with Family Size
Many Americans don’t have strong opinions on how many children families “should” have. Demographers note that a population’s replacement rate requires an average of 2.1 children per woman. But the survey finds most Americans don’t see it as clearly positive or negative for families to have fewer or more than two kids.
Appelbe, who has one teenage daughter, said she’s grateful for the financial stability having a small family has allowed. “I definitely think if I had more children, I wouldn’t have been able to provide as much,” she said.
Meanwhile, a majority—55%—say improving health outcomes for women should be a government priority. That view is especially strong among Black adults and women, amid ongoing concerns about the U.S. maternal mortality rate, which is higher than in other wealthy nations.
Pronatalism Registers More with Conservatives—but Barely
While pronatalist ideas resonate slightly more with conservatives, most Republicans are not clamoring for government intervention to boost birth rates.
Only about two in 10 Republicans say it’s “mostly bad” for the nation if families have two or fewer children—a small share, despite GOP leaders promoting larger families as a societal good.
Dmitriy Samusenko, 28, from California, identifies as a social conservative but not with either major party. He considers the U.S. birth rate drop a serious issue that could determine whether “our nation continues to exist in the long run.” He supports government measures to help families grow.
Pronatalist advocates have proposed a $5,000 “baby bonus” for new mothers. Trump has said it “sounds like a good idea,” but the poll shows skepticism: about half of conservative Republicans oppose the bonus, while roughly one-quarter support it. Among Americans overall, about one-third favor it, four in 10 oppose, and about three in 10 are neutral.
Fertility Costs Also a Key Concern
On the campaign trail, Trump dubbed himself the “fertilization president,” signing an executive order in February to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF). Though IVF is popular, it’s controversial among some of Trump’s religious supporters, including many Catholics and evangelicals.
About four in 10 U.S. adults see the cost of fertility treatments as a significant issue. Nearly half say insurance companies should be required to cover such treatments.
Bill Taylor, 72, a Democrat from Washington state, has watched his daughter face costly fertility challenges. He strongly supports mandated insurance coverage for fertility procedures. Taylor also sees the declining birth rate as a problem—albeit a smaller one.
“Bigger families mean more need for government health care and social programs,” Taylor said. “Conservatives don’t want to do that. They just want to grow the family.”
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