We Must Act to Support American Families

Image by Jonathan Borba

A mother sits at her kitchen table, staring at the stack of unpaid bills. Her toddler clings to her leg, babbling happily, unaware of the impossible decision his mother faces. She has spent the past five years building her career, working long hours to provide for her family. But now, with the rising cost of childcare, she’s at a breaking point. If she continues working, nearly her entire paycheck will go toward daycare. If she quits, her family loses financial stability.

A trap disguised as a choice.

This mother’s story is not unique. Across the country, parents—especially mothers—are forced into impossible situations. America’s policies on family support are outdated, failing to keep up with the realities of modern parenthood. And while our country remains politically divided on many issues, one thing is clear: Americans overwhelmingly agree that the government must do more to support families.

For years, policymakers have debated the future of this country while ignoring the very people who are the future: children and their families. The U.S. has some of the highest childcare costs in the world, no guaranteed paid parental leave, and minimal financial support for working parents. The result? Fewer people are choosing to have children because they simply can’t afford to.

“Americans may be divided on many issues right now. But, there is one issue in which we have near unilateral agreement: the government must do more to support parents. Mandatory parental leave policies, more affordable childcare, greater tax credits for parents and many more initiatives are all receiving overwhelming support from voters in the latest polls,” shares Melissa Saleh, former journalist and serial entrepreneur.

Politicians have long used division to maintain their power, but we can’t allow that to distract us from real solutions. While they focus on party lines, parents are drowning under the weight of an unsustainable system.

The numbers paint a grim picture. The U.S. birth rate has been steadily declining for years, and many young families—especially working women—report that they want children but cannot afford to have them. The financial burden of raising a child is becoming unbearable, pushing parenthood further out of reach for millions of Americans.

“Birth rates in the US continue to drop, and young families – and working women in particular – are reporting in growing numbers that they want children but quite literally cannot afford to have them. We are turning the US into a country where having children is exclusively for the wealthy. That must not happen. We must act now to ensure that families have the support they need to bring children into this world and raise them safely,” says Saleh.

The idea that parenthood is becoming a privilege only for the wealthy should alarm us all. A nation that does not invest in its future is a nation in decline. Children are more than just the next generation—they are the foundation of our country’s future. If we continue to deprioritize family support, we are putting the stability of our nation at risk.

“Children are quite literally the health and future of any country,” Saleh warns. “If we continue to kick the can on this issue, we will wake up and find ourselves living in a dying nation.”

We often hear political rhetoric about fighting for America’s future, but how can we claim to do so while ignoring the families who build it? Supporting parents isn’t about partisanship; it’s about ensuring that every child has a fair start in life.

America prides itself on being a nation of opportunity, but for too many families, opportunity is slipping away. Parents shouldn’t have to choose between their children and financial survival. They shouldn’t have to fight alone for policies that other developed nations provide without hesitation.

Being a patriot means advocating for all Americans. It means ensuring that every family has the resources to thrive. If we truly care about the future of this country, we must start by prioritizing the families who shape it.

The mother above—and millions of parents like her—deserve better. It’s time we stop treating family support as a political issue and start recognizing it for what it really is: a moral imperative.