The U.S. birth rate has been declining for nearly two decades and currently stands well below replacement level, but President Donald Trump is reportedly endeavoring to address this issue. Various ideas fielded by the Trump administration have included reserving a substantial portion of government-funded scholarships for married men and women, funding education programs centered on the relationship between a woman’s menstrual cycle and fertility, and possibly even awarding mothers $5,000 per baby delivered. The latter suggestion has become something of a focal point in news reports and social media commentary.

While it’s encouraging to see the Trump administration turn its attention to making American families great again, financial incentives have proven to only temporarily boost birth rates, and even then, not by the most significant margins. In fact, most countries that have implemented financial incentive programs in a bid to start a baby boom have actually seen long-term declines in their birth rates. Countries like Australia, China, Estonia, Finland, and Japan all have tax breaks and financial bonuses ready for moms, but Australia’s total fertility rate (TFR) has fallen to 1.5, China’s to 1.0, Estonia’s to 1.31, Finland’s to 1.25, and Japan’s to 1.26, all well below the 2.1 needed to maintain population stability and, in almost all cases, representing historic lows.

Economic factors are, of course, an important consideration in raising a family, but cash incentives clearly don’t always work. Instead of considering the U.S. birth rate alone and attempting to temporarily boost its sagging numbers, the Trump administration may be better served focusing its attention on creating an environment in which Americans want to and are enabled, encouraged, and empowered to raise families. Here are two suggestions.

1. Bolster Public Safety

Most parents will attest that they frequently worry about their child’s safety. Child locks and electric outlet coverings are common in homes with small children, to be replaced with parents’ requests such as “Text me when you get there!” as those small children grow up. But electric sockets and traffic collisions aren’t the only sources of danger in this world.

Crime rates — especially violent crime rates — have skyrocketed in the U.S. Between 2020 and 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recorded a 30% spike in murders, the highest ever increase in homicides recorded in a single year. Murders continued to increase nationwide in subsequent years, along with rape, assault, robbery, and other violent crimes. As alarming as those numbers are, the FBI’s statistics didn’t even include numbers from some of the most violent U.S. cities, like Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York City.

Data linking declining birth rates to increasing crime rates is scant, but not nonexistent. Of course, it’s easy enough to conclude that men and women may be more hesitant to raise vulnerable children in areas where crime is prevalent, but some numbers suggest the same. A 2015 study conducted by the World Bank found that the perceived safety of a woman’s environment influences her decisions regarding family life. While the study did not center on U.S. cities, it did examine the impact that violent crime has on several metropolitan areas around the globe, concluding that violent crime erodes social cohesion and increases stress and anxiety, particularly for women living in the studied locales, and significantly influences the decisions that women in particular make about their lives, including their families.

Another global study, this one from U.N.-Habitat, reached similar conclusions, finding that high crime rates overwhelmingly negatively impact the quality of life for families, especially for women and children. A few years prior, another U.N.-Habitat study focused specifically on the relationship between high crime rates and quality of life for families. According to the study, high crime rates often increased financial burdens for families — through necessitating the purchase of security devices, medical bills for family members who became victims of violent crimes, etc. — and fostered economic instability and insecurity, making it difficult for families to sustain themselves.

A common trope in American society is that of moving to the suburbs to start and raise a family, leaving the big cities and their crime and chaos behind for more peaceful prospects. But even these more peaceful prospects have fallen prey to burgeoning crime across the U.S. Fewer and fewer American locales are safe havens from crime, whether it be drug crises, robberies, riots, or gang warfare.

The president pledged on the campaign trail last year to “make America safe again” and has already taken steps to achieve this. Illegal border crossings have plummeted to record lows and the deportation of illegal immigrants, many of whom have made headlines over the past several years for excessively violent crimes, is under way. However, many blue states and Democrat-led cities have implemented and maintain “soft-on-crime” policies, tolerating theft, drug offenses, and other crimes and creating an environment of squalor, urban decay, and even violence. No parent wants to raise a child in such an environment.

Targeting “soft-on-crime” executives and administrators, implementing standards to compel state and local authorities to uphold criminal laws and statutes, and working with Congress to ensure nationwide consistency on common and serious crimes would not only help make America safe again, but would further facilitate an America in which moms and dads want to have and raise children.

2. Reshore American Jobs

There are, once again, very few studies that demonstrate a direct link between U.S. manufacturing or production jobs and the U.S. birth rate, but both have declined noticeably over the past two decades. A 2019 University of Wisconsin-Madison study did draw a correlation between the two, analyzing birth data from 1991 to 2014 across 381 metropolitan areas and finding that areas with a higher concentration of production and manufacturing jobs also had higher birth rates. Economic stability and security are tremendous benefits when raising a family and are so crucial that they approach the point of necessity. Dads need to be able to provide for their children, and a decent paycheck for dad also allows mom to stay home and tend to the children.

In recent years especially, the U.S. has become inundated with cheap, low-quality products manufactured overseas. Too many manufacturing and production jobs have also gone overseas, resulting in a dearth of such jobs in the U.S. Instead, America has become a leader in service-sector jobs, low-paying positions with a high turnover rate — nearly double the national average. In addition to relatively low wages and long, unpredictable hours, such jobs provide little to no long-term stability. Is it any surprise that the declining U.S. birth rate has coincided with the loss of good-quality manufacturing and production jobs? American families need American jobs and American wages.

Once again, the president has already begun to deliver in this area. The “Liberation Day” tariffs previously announced by the president will, many experts predict, bring manufacturing and production jobs back to the U.S. As other economists have warned, there may be short-term economic difficulties and temporarily rising prices, but the long-term benefits for the nation may be substantial. In addition to his tariff agenda, the president may consider imposing restrictions on H-1B visas (which allow American employers to hire noncitizens as employees at a fraction of the wage employers would be legally required to pay Americans), granting tax breaks to employers for hiring American citizens, and decrease regulations on the transport and sale of American-made products and goods.

Ensuring that Americans can obtain fulfilling, well-paying jobs that contribute meaningfully to society will establish a stable, steady foundation upon which Americans can build their families.