Beyond financial incentives

“Low birthrates will end civilization,” Elon Musk warned on X. The New York Times spotlighted the issue with multiple articles on the subject in recent months. President Trump’s administration floated offering $5,000 “baby bonuses.”

Why all the talk about birthrates, financial incentives, and pronatalist movements?

Because the CDC released new data in April revealing alarming trends. The U.S. fertility rate dropped to an all-time low of 54.5 births per 1,000 women. That is less than half the peak reached in 1957, which was 122.9. The birthrate in the United States first fell below the replacement rate in 2007. But the United States is not alone. Many countries share this problem. South Korea owns the sharpest decline in birthrates, and faces a population decrease of 50% in the next four decades.

The United Nations published an article in 2024 stating that while the world population continues to grow, it is expected to peak in the 2080s before entering a decline. Many attribute the birthrate crisis to various factors: less marriage, greater desire for independence, increased costs of living and healthcare, and increased access to contraception.

The Trump administration and other countries want to solve the problem with money by offering incentives to families and mothers to have more children. Hungary implemented such incentives in 2019, offering loans up to $35,000, which could be forgiven if a family had up to three children. The birthrates declined.

Why are birthrates declining? How did we get here?

We live in a time when self-evident truths are not so self-evident. That is why Christians must continually reaffirm them. For example, the U.K. Supreme Court recently affirmed that men and women are biologically males and females. How did we get to a place where one of the highest courts in the land had to rule on something any preschooler in a church could explain? Our world lacks a biblical anthropology.

We do not know who we are or what we are supposed to do. As Andrew Walker has said, “In the face of this, evangelical Christians are recognizing that politics is not just about policy, but about anthropology—and anthropology that affects not just Christian self-interest, but a broader cultural self-understanding of who we are as human beings.” What everyone overlooks is that beneath the policy debates lies a deeper crisis—a theological one rooted in our understanding of human anthropology and teleology.

One proposal from the Trump Administration suggests reserving 30% of scholarships for the Fullbright Program (a government-funded cultural exchange for students, scholars, teachers, and professionals) for applicants who are married or have children. Other proposals offer a $5,000 cash “baby bonus” to American mothers after childbirth.

As a Christian, I affirm policy ideas like these. Christians can applaud these efforts as aligned with biblical values and the common good. But we know these efforts are not the ultimate solution. The bottom line is that if we want people to have more children, they need theological education and motivation. We must disciple people to obey everything God commanded (Matthew 28:20).

Pastors and churches must recover and declare the God-given duty human beings have as image-bearers to fulfill the Cultural Mandate given in Genesis 1:28. We are to be fruitful and multiply. The LORD commanded us to fill the earth, and He gave us bodies that are male and female, with a purpose to procreate in the context of marriage. This stands in stark contrast to Elon’s lone-wolf approach. Our God-given mission is to fill the earth, building families and societies. This Mandate continues today.

In light of the cultural challenges we face, churches must proclaim two key principles: self-denial and the value of children. While it’s common to hear people say, “Children are not a burden!”—the truth is, they are. They drain sleep, money, and time, forcing us to crucify our comforts. But that is the point. They are a profound blessing that give us a mission worth living for—one that’s bigger than ourselves. Scripture reminds us that children are a heritage from the LORD (Psalm 127:3). The hardships of parenting do not diminish the blessing—they magnify it. Christian couples should welcome children early in their marriage, rather than forfeiting that heritage for extended “just us” time. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him (Luke 9:23). As Christians, we put selfish desires to death in order to honor God, recognizing that life isn’t about pursuing our own agendas, but obeying His.

We need Christian scaffolding back in our culture. Even atheist writer Jonathan Rauch agrees. He stated that “Christianity is a load-bearing wall of American civic life.” He’s right. And that includes the value we place on having and raising children.

Having babies is a mandated blessing from the LORD. Until we help people recognize the “mandated,” “blessing,” and “from the LORD” parts of that equation, all efforts to solve the declining birthrate crisis will fail. In the end, people do not need their pockets lined; they need their hearts and minds changed.