A one-time payout of $5,000 — an amount that wouldn’t even cover the cost of one of my births — isn’t a life raft, but a pat on the head as families struggle to stay afloat amid rising costs, child-care shortages and a culture that undervalues parenthood.
American families don’t need a flashy push present. We need durable policy change.
We need tax reform rooted in research, reflecting the real needs of modern mothers and fathers, and support that empowers families to dream bigger, not just survive.
Several Republicans on Capitol Hill are thinking deeply about how to ease that burden. //
Moore’s Family First Act, for example, won’t solve the whole problem, but it sends the right message: families matter.
As Moore told me, “Moving toward a pro-family culture will require considering both immediate incentives and lasting policy change.”. //
Which brings me to a moment last week, halfway around the world, that somehow felt very close to home: Vice President JD Vance‘s X post of a perfectly imperfect photo of himself, his wife Usha and their squirming, squinting children on their official trip to India.
The caption? “With three little kids staring into the sun, this was actually the best photo we got at the Taj Mahal today” — followed by a laughing emoji.
That’s the kind of positive, pro-family image Americans need to see more of: messy, real and beautiful.
