Money can’t buy you love. That’s true. And it won’t help with babies either.

America slouches towards a demographic doomsday. The country’s birth rates have been declining rapidly are are now at an all time low.

President Trump promised a “new baby boom.”

I don’t think that financial incentives will do this. Russia and China both tried to financially incentivize children. And failed. Putin even hired Boyz 2 Men to hold a concert to kick off a baby boom. Shockingly, it didn’t work.

Here’s the thing. Children will never be worth it. Not financially. They’re going to suck you dry. I remember one night I gave a talk and a man asked me if I was such a serious Catholic why didn’t I give up all my money and belongings. I told him I did. I have five kids.

The only reason to have children is love. Money will never incentivize a baby boom. We need more love, more marriage, and more Christ.

Emma Waters reports that the U.S. marriage rate has dropped an astounding 60% since 1970 and roughly one-third of Generation Z is on track to never marry. Why don’t people get married? It’s because they’re not religious. They don’t need paperwork from the state to codify their love, right?

Harvard performed a study which showed that regular religious service attendance is associated with 50% lower divorce rates.

More religion leads to less divorce and therefore more stable families and quite likely more children. If we want more children, evangelize.