A new report from the Heritage Foundation argues the American family is in crisis and that strengthening marriage and family formation should be a core focus of U.S. federal policy.
The conservative think tank calls for sweeping policy changes to reverse declining birth and marriage rates, including a proposed $2,500 investment account for every newborn child, as well as other proposals.
The report says government policies "should encourage and protect the formation of families, not mere fertility."
"The country should not seek a mere boost in the number of children born or in the monetary support that parents receive, the report says. "Yes, the country needs more children. But it matters how and to whom children are born. Society depends on men and women who want to form families, that is, who freely want to marry, and then freely bear and nurture children."
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The think tank assesses that decades of cultural change and public policy have contributed to the erosion of family formation, pointing to historically low fertility and marriage rates and a growing share of children raised outside married-parent households. The report ties the decline of the family to broader social and economic problems facing the country.
The report argues that traditional family structure remains essential, describing the family as "the foundation of civilization" and defining marriage - one man and one woman - as the ideal environment for raising children.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts warned that the country is nearing a point of no return when it comes to family breakdown.
"The family is the foundation of every healthy society, and, tragically, the American family is on the brink," Roberts said in a statement. "We are dangerously close to being unable to reverse the decline. Our country will not survive if families continue to crumble at this rate."
Roberts said the stakes extend beyond family life to the nation's future itself.
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"If we want to secure the Golden Age of America, we must have bold solutions like those in this report that lay the foundation for stronger families," he said. "Strong families build strong communities, churches, schools, and businesses. Without them, freedom cannot last."
The report also criticizes welfare and government programs, arguing they often "punish marriage and family formation" by creating financial incentives that make marriage less attractive. It frames family decline not as inevitable but as the result of policy choices and calls for a "culture-wide Manhattan Project" to rebuild family norms.
To reverse the trend, the report recommends eliminating so-called marriage penalties in welfare programs, requiring federal agencies to review policies for their impact on marriage and family and encouraging policies that strengthen traditional families at all levels of government.
It also proposes financial incentives, including baby investment accounts seeded with $2,500 at birth, which the report says could help families build long-term financial stability.
Other proposed incentives include expanded adoption and child tax credits.
The report also advocates for efforts to discourage online dating and the creation of marriage "bootcamp" classes aimed at supporting long-term relationships.
"'Online' has become the most common way couples meet in America today," the report says. "While there are plenty of dating app success stories, studies show that couples who meet online and subsequently marry are six times more likely to get divorced within the first three years of marriage than are those who meet through in-person methods. Beyond higher divorce rates, couples who meet online are also less likely to get married in the first place."
The report also calls for a minimum age of 16 for social media platforms and certain A.I. chatbots, arguing that digital culture has contributed to declining family formation.
